I LOVE MY JOB

So, this morning I arrive at work and find that I need to help Justin haul up some equipment. I head down to the first floor and, on my way out, this guy I don’t know says to me: Hey! There’s breakfast in the next room. Go get some!

I feel a bit awkward, as I don’t really know many of the morning jocks (that’s DJ’s to you and me), and when I look in – they’re all crowded around plates and whatnot. I work technically for Emmis, the parent company that owns, among other radio stations, Q101. We share the same office space, but us IT folk are not "technically" part of Q101.

Small sidenote: the other day, when all of us (me, Justin, Ben and Matt) were walking down the hall, Mancow sticks his head around the corner and yells "Nerds!" Thought it was kinda funny.

So I walk by the room, and head downstairs. I help Justin bring up his monitor, and lug it back to our work area. I’m feeling rather sluggish, and decide to get some coffee from the Starbucks downstairs. Again, as I’m walking down the hall.. the same guy says to me: Hey! There’s breakfast in the next room. Go get some!

I nod at him again, and get my coffee. When I get back to my desk, I fall to work and sip away, trying to wake up. A few minutes later, a voice says over the intercom that there’s food in the DJ room, and all are welcome. Ben heads in, and I decide to hang back. When he returns, he’s got a big honking plate of burritos, and it smells wonderful.

Matt and I, who were both hesitant earlier, head straight for that room. I see the friendly breakfast guy again, and he looks at me and says: Gonna get some food now?

When I walk in, I am utterly surprised. I had expected someone brought in a few plates to pass around, something small like that. As it turns out, a local Mexican restaurant catered breakfast for everyone, so there were massive portions. They even had several cute girls handing out plates and utensils and whatnot. Nutty.

Matt and I load up, and we go back to the room to eat. As I’m setting my plate down, I notice Ben has a beer. "They’re in a cooler," he tells us. Matt and I head back without blinking.

Here is what I had this morning, at 10:30 AM:

I need to stop being so timid. When someone invites me, I should just accept and go. Thrust myself into the fray and smile and be sociable. People are nicer than I give them credit for. That’s a bad habit I fall into.

This morning was fantastic. I was full and happy and felt privileged – wonderful things for a company to instill in their employees. For those who may not know, this is what I had to contend with at my old place of employment.