I'm The Winner! And The Loser!

The company I work for (which I can't name on the internet because they have google alerts -- anytime their name is posted anywhere on the internet all the head honchos get a heads up) had a really nice dinner and holiday appreciation thing last Friday. It was by far the best one of these I've ever been to. In Utah, working for Marriott and Hotel Park City, they actually had better raffle prizes and the food was pretty good, but it always felt like a formality, not sincere. I wanted to stand up at those and say "Hey, you can't treat me like I'm an expendable body 364 days of the year and then stand up around Christmas and say you love me and expect me to buy it." As long as I'm on this subject, the only job I had in Utah where I actually felt appreciated (in 8 years, I worked at Day's Market, UVSC, Brian's Grill, the Orem Institute, Tucano's, Marriott Hotel, Chef's Table, Hotel Park City) was Wingers. They gave me 50% off of food, helped me learn and develop, promoted me when I had earned it, and when I had to quit in order to leave on my mission, I felt truly sorry to leave that job. Everywhere else I kind of celebrated to quit. How sad is it that Wingers, a family restaurant for the budget conscious, gives employees 50% off meals, while Chef's Table, the nicest restaurant in Utah, won't even let you have a drink from the soda fountain without paying full price. I can't believe how stingy that owner was!

Anyway, my new company's holiday appreciation dinner was awesome! The speakers really did feel sincere, and I felt absolutely no impulse to stand and say anything negative about how two-faced they were. In fact, I won an award!

I was the Quarter 3 Customer Service Excellence Winner! Every quarter our region of about 400 people selects one associate for best customer service provided, and he or she gets recognized by the whole company, including my bio getting sent to the CEO! Pretty cool. They gave me this certificate and a little plaque to put on my desk, plus one free day off with pay that I can use whenever I want. So I was a winner last week!

Tonight though, I was a loser. Tamara kicked my butt at Hand and Foot. She had all books for 300 points each! How could I even try to compete with that???