A Decade At This Job · 11:31am Nov 2nd, 2015
On September 9, 2015 came my tenth anniversary working for a certain large grocery retail store here in Canada. Yeah, I know. Late blog is truly late.
What a decade it's been. One and a half years as a part timer, the rest as a full timer, three as a full time assistant supervisor to two GM departments, and the last five as a full time receiver. I've seen so much. So many colleagues hop on board to jump off due to finding something better, or simply jumping off just cuz, some getting promoted to supervisor. Supervisors and managers being transferred from department to department, store to store if they had proven themselves worthy. There were also lots of people from all levels of the employment hierarchy let go due to one reason or another, through their own doing or subtle machinations that you only hear from the grapevine or observe first hand. Like, I have seen a crapton of people come and go. I have been through three store renovations, some which have resulted in whole departments merged together. I am still at what is amounts to my first job [1] after a decade. Still at the same company. Still at the same store location. Well, they were all different job positions, but... same difference I guess? Heh... I guess I should feel some sort of achievement, eh? Well, I guess I do.
I received this pin in the mail.
Here's the thing. I have this pin from five years ago.
I haven't removed either from the packaging they're embedded in. Never worn either of them. Why? I never felt it necessary to show such achievements, to display them to the world as such. Like, when I wear any jewelry of the sort, there's usually a bit of symbolism. Ritualistic, almost. Stuff I believe in or endorse. I like ankhs a lot, and the eternal life they symbolize. I like spiky and silver jewelry. I like geek stuff and wear a lot of print t-shirts. I have MLP bracelets. I like skulls on stuff. I know that it seems like I'm missing the point of it. It's a little badge of honour, a thing to be proud of. A little thing to show off your pride to your company. It's not that I don't have some sort pride for my job. It's that I find such a display, even such a small one, to be kind of arrogant. I dunno. I try to be a humble in such matters, I guess. I do loathe arrogance. It's a characteristic I find to be repulsive in real life situations.
Besides, I don't really like the look of the pins. Not enough morbid imagery on them. Or ankhs. Sure. Whatever I wear, I don't just wear willy nilly. What? I'm incredibly picky when it comes to such matters 
Like, I prefer not to show my achievements, but rather that people know them through first hand experience. Sure, that may mean that somebody I don't know or haven't worked with may not have any idea what kind of experience I have by glancing at a thing like an anniversary pin, but oh well. It's just not how I roll.
A week after the anniversary, there was a pie eating contest at work, an employee appreciation event. My boss "voluntold" me to enter.
This apple pie is pure joy. I want my moth avatar 'shopped on top of my head.
I was surprised that I had a cheering squad form up. Like, they were cheering my name, urging me on to eat and beat. Eheh... that didn't end up happening. I managed to down four pies. The winner managed to consoom like six pies. Dammit, I'm not as young as I used to be 
But yeah, I was the only one who got a cheering squad going. I suspect it has a lot to do with that I've done something to help each of those people. Lots of favours asked, lots of favours followed through. I didn't ask for a cheering squad, but I got one. T'was rather embarrassing, yet it says a lot. Like, if my reputation precedes me that much at work, I don't have to say a word, let alone wear a medal. People like me and know I'm helpful.
Or maybe they were cheering for an entirely different reason. Most of my adoring fans were middle aged Filipino women. I'm a Filipino guy in his late twenties. The implications from that... 
Let's just go with that I don't like the aesthetics of the pins, eh? 
I know my views on the pin can be rather silly. It is just a pin, after all. Same thing with the whole reputation preceding you deal in certain instances. And of course, there are such instances where trying to be humble can be an incredible downside. But that's for another blogpost 
[1] Eheh. Technically, my first job was as a library page, sorting books back onto the shelves. Got let go cuz I wasn't fast enough. That's the breaks, eh? But if that hadn't happened, I might not be where I am right now, eh?
I can understand wanting to keep the achievement to yourself, and I definitely know what it's like to discover you're more popular than you knew. If the most bragging you do is over the Internet to quasistrangers, I'd say that speaks well of your humility. Happy decaversary.
Dammit, now I can't post my blog about my birthday in July, or I'll look even tardier.
Congratulations though, and I'm right there with you in the ambivalence department. I started at my current job in 2006. It outlasted my marriage — and pretty much everything else in my adult life. I feel like I should be doing something better, but at the same time I can't look back and regret it.
Ten years of loyalty and hard work and you get a pin. That's retail for ya :p
Ha, this made me laugh. My boss is in his late twenties and he has older women flirt with him all the time. It's way creepier when men flirt with really young ladies, or just ogle them.
I don't think you're expected to wear the pins, except maybe at the company Christmas party. Maybe you can pin the 5 left of the 10 and say you've been with the company for 510 years.
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Can you explain why? I think it's funny that we're now supposed to accept and embrace nearly every sexual preference, except for the universal preference of older men for younger women.
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Sure. ^.^ I should have been clearer. When I said 'really young' I meant teenage and very early twenties, and by 'men' I meant guys in their forties and higher. It's an age gap that given our modern western culture I don't consider bridgeable. Other cultures other times maybe so. Fantasizing is one thing, but ogling and openly flirting I consider to be another. It's discomforting to hear middle aged men speak to each other about what they would do sexually to teenage and college age girls. Yes, old men have desired very young women from the beginning of time, but it isn't enough to make it appropriate. The same applies to women, of course, but in my experience men tend to be more predatory about it. And whether true or not, the perception is there's a higher risk factor for the male to actually act on his fantasies. As both parties grow older age gaps tend to matter much less though, or so I feel anyway.
All in all there's many nuances to the matter, and 'creepy' is a bit of a pejorative term, but I hope that helps explain my position. And you're very right when it comes to sexual preferences in our culture: double standards are rampant. I find that for many "right" and "wrong" align with "what I'm personally comfortable and not comfortable with".