Guest post: Your boss isn't always an asshole.

This year's first guest post comes from Jake, who proves that sometimes the boss doesn't deserve an icepick to the kneecap. Thanks, Jake! If you'd like to be a guest blogger, please e-mail your story or a link to it to slightlycranky at hotmail.com.

Alright, so I thought I would share a little something with you guys.

Today (or a few days ago rather…just go with it!) made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

So we had a wedding on August 1st where I work and I was the reception host. You know, the guy that is responsible for anything that goes wrong and has to deal with obsessed Nazi brides!? Yup, that’s me. I love being the reception host. One, because I like to make things happen. Two, because I can make things happen. And three, because I love to order people around like sheep.

Yes well, that last one is true, but they are my workers and I command them. A conductor for his orchestra if you will.

Anyway, I don’t think that the wedding went over very well. The DJ didn’t start on time, they didn’t follow the correct order, everything was late….Just a whole bunch of shit that throws everyone and everything off. Not much of it was our fault, or controllable by me personally, but yea…it just didn’t start well.

Anyway, the following Monday after the wedding the Bride’s parents left me an envelope in my mail box. Inside it was $120, meant entirely for me, for what they said was “an excellent job well done.”

Total Shocker. Apparently they did like the wedding overall. Typically, no one ever leaves extra gratuity, as 18% is already included on the bill. I just stared at it for the longest time, amazed. I’ve gotten extra tips before, but nothing nearly as much as this at one time. They obviously had no problem paying their tab if they gave me extra.

So there I was, sitting there with it in my hands, in my office. I originally decided I was going to split it among my co-manager and servers that were there that night. I figured I’d give them a bit and keep a lump sum for myself…afterall, I did go through all the stress of setting it up and making sure everything went (albeit not well) ok.

During the wedding, the DJ announced that I apparently deserved a round of applaus for making everything run well. I always hate when they do that. It’s nice to be recognized for hard work, but there are several other people behind the scenes that made things happen and I feel bad when they applaud just for me. I was in their position before. For a long time actually. There was often a time when someone else was applauded for the work that I had done.

I decided that I would distribute the money evenly between all the people that worked that day. 12 ways. $10 each. It was the best feeling in the world when I gave the money away. Each of the cooks was surprised that anyone would do such a thing. Most people would just keep it and not say anything about it. I definitley could have used the money, but after it was all said and done, it was such a great feeling. I am amazed that a simple $10 can make people feel so appreciated.

Times is hard. $10 can buy two packs of cigarettes or 4 gallons of gas. A little something extra can help everyone out.

Have you ever been emptying out your pockets at the end of the day and found some money in your pockets or wallet that you didn’t know was there? It’s like you’ve struck gold!

Anyway, I love that I could give a little something special to those I really appreciate. There have been a lot of people through the position that I’m in and I just don’t want to be another asshole that everyone hates.