I was rummaging through some boxes the other day and came across this little artifact from my previous working life. It's the ten year service anniversary gift I got during my old corporate dayz. I remember rifling through the catalog of 10 year gifts I was eligible for from what once was one corporate goliath, AT&T. It's actually a pretty nice clock, still works. Definitely better than most of the other gifts in that catalog. A mongrammed garden hose. A timex with AT&T shining brightly on the face. A sporty AT&T insulated vest with built-in pocket protector. I guess I shouldn't complain. In these days of jobsharing and cost cutting and do more with less business mantras, I'm guessing most, when they hit a decade, don't get more than a slice of cake from their office mates. Come to think of it, does anyone work for a single employer for that long anymore?
In any event, this clock was just one of those occassional little reminders of my days 'workin' for the man'. Pushing 6 years now and still no regrets for leaving the 7:30 to 5. There may have been a few moments during the past weekend, for example, when I was beaten senseless from endless hours of scooping double duty (with the green crew, not in an energy efficient way, but a don't know where the buttons on the cash register are yet way) and ice cream making all hours into the night, but at the end of the day (I hate that saying, it just came out, couldn't be stopped), it's so much more satisfying to have created something that brings people pleasure, including me. It's a fun environment to hang out in every day. No one tells me what to do. And I get to be creative whenever I feel like it. As I always say, owning your own gig is a ton of work and time, but it's immensly satisfying and interesting and challenging and exhausting and fun and rewarding, so if you have dreams of hanging up your own shingle, I say go for it. As long as it's not homemade ice cream in Easthampton.
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