Say it with flowers

To 'Hide Your Love Away' cover by Pearl Jam.

At work the other day we had a special ceremony to honour staff who have been at our school for ten or more years. 

I think many of us felt a little conspicuous, as the current seems to be running against valuing long-term employees.  Some teachers saw this as a bit of an equivalent to a gold watch or hint to get on with it.

But it was nice. 

Undeniably, the nicest bits were these
- there were staff from very different parts of the school recognised (including a cleaner, the tea-lady, a teacher aide and a couple of grounds-keepers)
- seeing a guy well over six feet tall standing up there with a bunch of flowers was a nice moment; I did wonder if he's ever been given flowers before
- there were standing ovations for the teachers who had been here over 30 years; I know that they often feel self-conscious about this so it was nice to put it in a positive light
- the 40+ years teacher was so taken aback by the standing ovation that she had tears in her eyes; it is certainly nice to feel appreciated

I just really like the demographic of kids and families at our school and every few years I get given really great opportunities, so the thought of starting at a new school back at zero seems very daunting (especially now that I have a mortgage).  I like having strong institutional knowledge.  I don't think our school is perfect, but then I don't think any school is likely to be perfect.  People are fallible and National is in power.  Ours does pretty well though.

Anyway, I got a big bunch of flowers out of it.  So big I have had to separate it into two vases at home. 

The only travesty was really that a colleague of mine didn't get recognised.  She has been there 16 years, but had a break of two years in the middle (where she went and did a couple of other jobs, then came back).  I doubt anybody else was in that same boat, but they decided to draw the line at having to have been here in ten consecutive years to get honoured.  Seemed a bit petty. 

To 'Shortnin' Bread' by Mississippi John Hurt