Christmas parties and bonuses

Turkey/stuffing/potatoes/vegetables dinner meals and holiday cakes and cookies for dessert served to all three shifts at Walmart. Not an actual Christmas bonus per se, but we all received our quarterly profit-sharing bonus -- $165 this time, down, unfortunately, from a $435 bonus last quarter -- plus a Christmas card, hand-signed by every manager in the store and snail-mailed to each associate's home, and (this is no small thing), we're closing two hours earlier than our usual Dec. 24 closing time on Christmas Eve, and we're off on Christmas. I feel fortunate.

 

Company dinners? Gifts? What are thoooooose?

Our company (not in the media industry): employee Christmas dinner-dance and free turkeys (cue the WKRP episode) were axed 20 years ago. Our shift coffee fund threw a potluck dinner last week, and our union gives us a gift certificate.

 

Yeah, I was an editor for Ebsco. Very interesting backstory to that company. Founded by an Alabama salesman who was a conglomerate savant. Went around the state and south finding companies he liked in all different sorts of businesses and buying them. I don't know exactly when he bought the information services company here in Mass. but we were the only non-Southern business. As happens to conglomerates, the 2008-2009 recession knocked the hell out of most of the businesses. Ours up in Mass. and I think the fishing reel maker were the only two subsidiaries making money. Information services kept getting more and more profitable, so they made its founder and CEO head of the whole shebang back in 2014 just before I left.

 

I get the week between Christmas and New Year off and paid without taking vacation days to do it. Part of our sustainability plan, and pretty sweet.

 

Staff dinner at a Mexican restaurant over in the mother ship's town (just a 20-mile drive, so not really a problem) and a $75 Walmart gift card, which is $25 more than the past few years.

We're down to six people over here but the mother ship still has a pretty big staff. They also have a business print shop and the press crew, so that's dinner for about 40 people (including spouses and a few kids) and gift cards for all the employees.

 

My wife downsized to a part-time job in June and today got a $70 bonus check at their christmas lunch. Me here at the newspaper? Crickets.

 

University wide Christmas dinner

Athletic department Christmas dinner/Secret Santa

SID department lunch

Compliance lunch

No wonder Im 12 pounds overweight

When you're the basketball SID, Christmas is actually November when the Nike shipment arrives and you get the travel sweats, shoes, 3 polos, etc.

AD picked up the one day I used the rental for personal stuff when we were in Cleveland, plus I got to watch the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden from a suite. I'm good.

 

We had a buffet lunch at a nice restaurant down the street, with a drink on the company.
They forgot to order dessert this year, so I made sure I enjoyed that second slice of prime rib.

 

Guild Christmas party took place on a Sunday afternoon. Nice meal plus a table of door prizes. I wasn't high in the drawing this year but still nabbed a nice little French press that has been put to good use already.

Company party was on a Friday night, so all the desk and sports couldn't go. Sadly, we missed the roast beef carving station starting on fire, reportedly, but they had food brought in for us too (from a different source, I think) -- Italian and good. Also, we got a movie ticket voucher. Not sure if everyone got one or if it was for working during the party, but it was OK.

 

$25 gift card to the local grocery store

 

Ham and turkey sandwiches provided by the company. Our news staff went out for a nicer dinner with spouses a week earlier on our own dime. Both were nice. The situation is what it is I guess.

 

Most people who have families left last Saturday to go visit them over the holidays (we're in a status that meant they had to leave post), so not many people here. We had a small gathering at the consul general's house Saturday night, but I had to work. Plus, over half the people who signed up to go canceled because there were protests in the area. (This was the day after the bombing.)

Yesterday, we had a showing of "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Marine house. I was working; not sure how many people went.

But the Thursday before so many people left, our local staffers threw a sweet party, part of which included video of the evacuated family members sending their well-wishes. Lots of tears.

I'm so ready for this year to be over with.