Go Me!

Today at work was the dreaded "annual performance review".

I was scheduled second out of five.

Last year wasn't that great, as most of us know. Business was down, but then started to pick up again in the second half of the year.

I went in to meet with my boss and his boss, just glad I still had a job, and not really expecting anything for 2010.

We breezed through all the rankings, all the areas I excel, what I need to work on, all the new accounts I handled last year, blah blah blah.

Just get to the good stuff will ya??????

"Because of all your hard work this year, with the extra account you took on in May, we're giving you a 3% raise." OMG, 3%? I honestly wasn't expecting any raise, I'm just happy to still have a job. Truly!

"And even though we only made 94% of our budget for last year, we are keeping the bonus program, so you will get a bonus of 6% of last year's salary." Holy crap! I wasn't expecting this!

And.............................................................................................................................

"You are getting a special President's award of $1500 in addition, for all your hard work on XYZ company from May of last year. He personally suggested this additional bonus." My jaw about hit the floor!

At this point, I had to work really, really hard to keep a straight face and not jump up and down hootin' and hollerin'. It just wouldn't be fair to disrupt the rest of the office. I thanked them profusely and quickly as I could, went back to my desk to hope that work would take my mind off the shock I experience this morning.

I think I'm still in shock.

I'm not posting this because I want to brag to everyone. Well, ok just a bit. But I also want to let everyone know that not everything is bad out there. The economy sucks, people are still losing their jobs, many jobs are still in trouble, lots are struggling to pay essential bills, but there are some good things going on out there, and to just be patient, because eventually things will get better. They always do.