27 Nov Holiday Traditions
Craig Eley:
“They weren’t this mean at ODOT.”Josh Craig:
“Come to think of it, they weren’t this mean at INDOT, either.”
It happens every year: a new Choice One employee assumes we’re joking about the annual Signing of the Christmas Cards. Since Craig and Josh were hired after last year’s Signing, it’s clear these two former Department of Transportation employees didn’t have to sign holiday cards while working for their states’ DOTs. It’s also clear that we waited until now to tell them that we hand sign every single card, every single year. That’s where said “meanness” may have been pointed out…
Each year there is the initial hesitation that comes with signing hundreds of cards, but then we actually get started. First, we block out Craig Eley’s whining. Then we get in a groove–chatting, laughing, and enjoying the holiday spirit. Heck, Brian Barhorst may have even been dancing in his chair this year. (Hey, we have to celebrate getting engi-nerds to show spirit for anything other than traffic counts, storm calcs, and The Big Bang Theory).
Someone inevitably signs in the wrong place. One of our lefties ends up smudging a signature (Caray claims she’s left-footed, but that’s no excuse for right-handed smudges). And somehow after you sign your name 700 times, it starts to look misspelled. Thankfully we have enough Jeffs, Mikes, Nicks, Brians, Craigs, etc., that we can double check each other’s work. 700 times.
P.S. Strategically, new engineer Casey Heitkamp starts at Choice One on December 28. Don’t tell her about the cards yet, ok everyone?