17 June 2008

Bonus!

Today there was an envelope in my mailbox at work. There's rarely anything in there, and this was on office stationery, with my name and address printed on it, so I was a bit puzzled as to what it could be.

It turned out to be a letter from our two top bosses, informing me that I will be receiving a bonus with this week's paycheck. I had known that the company awards bonuses, and that they would be announced near the end of the fiscal year, but I was not hired as a full-time employee until a year ago; before that, I was here for almost 18 months through an agency on an ongoing temp assignment. So until this year I was not eligible for a bonus, and I had more or less forgotten about it.

I thought a worker bee like myself might get maybe a couple hundred dollars, but it turned out to be significantly more, and certainly more than I would have expected. This is the first time in my entire career that I've ever received a cash bonus. I used to get jealous around Christmas when I would hear about the bonuses my friends and family members got. Over the years I've received my share of company-logo-embroidered hats and fleece clothing; I've gotten paid time off; I've received gift cards and gift checks, and there were plenty of years when I got nothing more than a "Merry Christmas!" from a manager.

So this is kind of a big deal, and needless to say, I'm quite pleased. I don't even care that it's not happening at the holidays. In fact, the timing is really good, because the Mrs. and I are going to New York this weekend, and this way we can enjoy ourselves without guilt, and maybe even splurge a little. We're already being sensible by banking our tax refunds and the forthcoming stimulus check, so this time we're going to have a little fun.

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