'Tis the season for a Christmas bonus!!

$20 gift card to a local grocery store.... I'll use it to buy 20 Totino's pizzas, and then the party is at my place.

 

I feel fortunate and blessed, especially after reading five pages of another small indictment against the industry.

I received a holiday bonus Friday, a week's pay deposited directly in my checking account. I landed Friday and Saturday off. Because I worked Thanksgiving, I am off for three days, Christmas included, and will fly Sunday to Fort Myers, Fla., to see Mama and Papa Bobcat. And I finished the last bit of Christmas shopping earlier this week, so I don't have to waste any time walking around a crowded mall.

All in all, a favorable and pleasant Christmas week.

I hope everybody is at least fortunate enough to enjoy this time -- happy and healthy, if nothing else.

 

except when they forget about the "christmas bonus" part.

 

Last year I got $500.
This year, a fitty dollar bill.
Of course, our ad guy quit in September, and the publisher hired the 20-hour per week part-time receptionist to replace him. :
Ad sales have decreased dramatically, needless to say.
Still, a fitty dollar bill is better than a sharp stick in the eye. I can't complain.

 

for some of the vets on the board, i was wondering if people bounced around 20 years ago as they do today?
and if there is more bouncing around now, is it because of the nature of the business in general, or the horrible ways the industry treats itself. Cause i've spoken with some guys who said back in the day, a Christmas bonus was the norm instead of the exception.

 

We got an office (editorial) Christmas party.
I also received a six-pack of beer as a prize at the party. We have 'awards' at our Xmas party, such as the 'prize for the reporter that broke a bone covering a job' etc.

I think the Christmas bonus thing is more of an American thing because it sure as shit doesn't happen over in this neck of the woods. At least not at my place.

 

For the first time in my 12-year career in the newspaper business, no Christmas bonus ... thank you Heartland Publications (who bought us out over the summer)...

 

Was it a six-pack of Fosters?