Milestone

Going through the mail a few days ago I opened up something from my employer. It was the information for my 15 year service award. Some how it had slipped my mind that I am quickly coming up on my 15 year service anniversary.

That's right.

15 whole years.

I grew up in the same neighborhood nearly my entire life. The building where I work is one of the tallest in this area and a landmark of sorts. Just like the collage high rise dorms, the building lends itself to the landscape and is often used to help give directions. The junior high school I attended is right across the street. So I saw the building a lot when I was growing up and I sometimes wondered what it looked like inside.

Now I know.

During a brief period of unemployment after my senior year VOE (vocational office employment) job had ended I happened to pop inside to put in an application. That was back when you could just walk in. Now you can't get in without swiping your badge. I was hired on as a temp with a six month probation period. Some of the other people I started with didn't get asked to stay on after that six month period was up, but I did.

Out of the six floors, I've worked on three (floor one being in there twice).

I've had nine different supervisors.

I've been part of three different work groups.

I haven't always liked my job. Sometimes I have really, really hated my job. My job has made me cry and stressed me out. It's not what I thought I'd be doing with my life. It's boring and mundane and not all that important, in the grand scheme of things {trust me, the customers think its very, VERY important}.

But I've learned a lot over these 15 years on what it means to work with people, to work with deadlines, to work with what you know and sometimes with even less than that. I've learned to use my common sense and make "executive decisions" without needing my hand held. I've learned how to listen and let customers vent. And I've learned that the customer is not always right. I've learned that it's important to have a sharp memory, it's important to roll with the punches, it's important to document everything. I've learned that I'm pretty dang good at multi-tasking. I've learned that I'm very good at stepping back and looking at the greater picture. I've learned that most people don't have the same work ethic as I do. I've learned that, even knowing that, I still can't allow myself to lower my standards.

I've learned that my talents and attributes have probably been wasted.

Overall, my job has provided my family with the means to do a lot of things. A lot of things that other people our age are just getting around to doing, like home ownership. It's allowed us to take care of ourselves without having to worry about the bill, due to the excellent insurance. It's allowed us to be able to travel with paid time off. Those few things right there are more than many others get with their jobs.

So I've learned to be thankful of what I have. A steady job, a good job, a job that has taught me a lot about being an adult. We'll see how much longer the ride lasts.

One last thing this job has taught me, to be ready for whatever might come. And I am ready...bring it.