TMOTM

One time I worked for a radio station.  Radio stations were very different back then; they had people in them.  These days they are so automated it's really just one guy hanging around waiting to reset the computer if it crashes.  I'm sure that job will soon be automated, too.  But back when we had people, we sometimes did things to celebrate those people.  One of those celebrations was called Team Member of the Month.  The TMOTM® award wasn't handed out for doing exceptional work, but that's only because no one there ever did anything exceptional.  It would mostly just rotate among the staff to make sure everyone eventually received it.  Sort of like touring the Stanley Cup.  Some people even got it twice.

I worked there for two years and never got it.  I started as part-time so maybe that had something to do with it at first.  I thought maybe when I went to full-time I might have had a shot at it.  There was that time I explained to the Operations Manager how to spool bare audio tape onto existing reels so we wouldn't have to keep buying new reels, which saved us about $300/mo. in operating costs.  There was the time I helped the Program Director get TV audio of the Simpson verdict patched into our soundboard so we could re-broadcast it live, even though I'm sure that was totally illegal.  It was his idea and I just helped make it happen.  I felt like whatever a Team Player is at that moment, but I suppose a month is a bit longer than just a moment.  I guess news of those events never found their way to the right ears.  I certainly wasn't going to sell out the Operations Manager by telling everyone he didn't know he was being wasteful, and I wasn't going bragging about how I potentially helped get our FCC license revoked.  These things were just a day in the life.

Eventually I was laid off.  My last day of work was one of those rare days when I got to record music at a local studio.  These sessions were typically all-day affairs that would wrap up sometime between 6PM and 7PM.  The working day back at the office wrapped up at 5PM, and on my last day the office had scheduled a party for me.  I told them ahead of time I'd be out of the office the whole day.  They knew how these things went.  On studio days, we didn't even come into the office.  They told me maybe I could just find a time to drop by real quick.  I tried to explain to them that was just not possible.  The studio charges $120/hr.  It's just me and an engineer.  If I'm not there to do the work, nothing will get done.

They had the party anyway.  After two years of wondering if anyone remembered that I worked there too, they finally had some recognition for me on a day they knew I couldn't make it, and that was how my last day ended.  It was nice of them to think of me.