Having my cake and eating it too

I just got back from a 40 year anniversary celebration. Not a couple - an anniversary with the company. It got me thinking, what are the benefits to working for one company for basically your entire career? What compels people to work for one company rather than move from job to job? What does it say about the person if they are willing to do that? What does it say about the company if they are able to retain someone that long? Are the days of people working for a company for that long dwindling?
I stood there in the shop area of the building I work, surrounded by around 30 people huddling around a table with a cake, punch, and a present. I knew all but maybe 1-2 of them. A few I had known for the duration of my tenure at L&P (15 years), most I have known for at least 3-5. There were of course a few stragglers who happen to know the guy 'right now' and they were out to have their cake and punch too - no shame in that. It's pretty good cake, and the punch wasn't bad.
Having just had my 15 year anniversary, my curiosity was peaked. What would I get if I hang out for another 25 years?? At 15 years I got a $50 gift certificate in a card during a department 'get together' celebrating not only mine, but a few others anniversaries and b-days. So, for 40 years you get an engraved crystal? I didn't see any cash - hopefully there was some, but I didn't see it. For 40 years I'd be trying for a couple months off?!?! Why not - after that long don't you deserve it? Man, I'd say.
Anyway, I don't think I want to hang around to find out any other uber-cool things that come with the big 4-0 trophy - at least at this fine establishment!!

So, seriously - back to some of the original thoughts - why do people stay? Security?? Fear?? Or, in some really rare cases do they really LOVE what they do?? Do they just have a passion for it?? I think in my case - and I'm only talking 15 years, but that's a freaking buttload - it's mostly that I kept thinking I could change things, make a difference, make things better and I like that. I like to help people to do their jobs better. Then there is also the security of doing something I know and working with people I know and know me. Seriously, some of these people know me better than I know myself sometimes. I do have fear of the unknown and that the grass may indeed NOT be greener on the other side. Maybe I'm a bit of a mid-life crisis person about now, but I just want to make a difference in this world in my own little way. Lately I've realized you don't have to make that difference at work. Also, there are some areas more important to me now that I think I could help make small differences in - childhood obesity, going green, nursing homes, etc...
I'm not at a stopping place in my rambling, but I am in my day, so that's all for now - time to go ride and do more pondering!!

Technology

In my last few minutes of work today I've been reading the latest T&D (training & development) magazine. It's really got me to thinking about new technology and how it can help/hurt training. Most everything today is geared towards online learning, but currently I work in an enviornment where online isn't easily possible. I get so excited when I read about using Twitter in presentations and training classes and the awesome potential of products like Google Wave (and tons of others), but bottom line is I am in Manufacturing - technical training which has been hands on for years and years. Is this to say it shouldn't change? No, I don't think so. I think there are areas where we could utilize new technology to move ourselves forward. It's just a struggle to even get my trainers (my top people in the field) to a computer during the course of a day - very, very few of them have their own. It was a fight to make sure they could all get email access. I've tried to encourage the use of the computer by posting useful information on our internal Sharepoint site and it's helped a little, but not enough. This tells me the information really isn't that useful to them, but you have to consider the information I'm posting is stuff they generally know - it would be more useful to those that work below them - the one's that DON'T have computer access.
These thoughts will have to be continued later...

Eating Alone

Traveling for work - alone - at first it sounds OK - get some quiet time to veg out in a hotel room, have time for exercise with no one waiting on you - doesn't sound too bad. Then, it's dinner time and you haven't invited anyone from the plant because they would interfere with the other activities so you start to think where you want to go to eat - ALONE.

The first time I did it it was terrible, then I learned if you take a book, magazine, or even your laptop to have something to look at while you are waiting on food you don't notice the stares nearly as bad. It's much better than the alternative anyway - getting food from a fast food 'to go' type establishment and eating in the room. I refuse to eat worse on the road than I do at home so that just isn't an option, therefore I've learned to embrace dining solo. Now that I've been doing it for the past 8-10 years I've gotten pretty good at it.

I hadn't put much thought into all the dynamics that are going on in a restaurant before my last trip. I would just try to focus on whatever I'd taken with me to occupy my time and tried not to be distracted with all the hubbub around me. But, sitting there in a Chili's - I became entranced with all that was going on. The older couple in front of me that kept staring - most certainly wondering/speculating what I was doing there alone, the couple behind me that weren't happy with anything their poor waitress brought them, the table full of young girls that occupied my servers attention a little more than I would have liked (I needed a refill!), the family of 6 holding hands and praying before eating, the strange manager stalking all the tables to make sure things were running smoothly, etc...

I guess some of this is important to me because I would like to open a cafe someday, but it's also just interesting to think about. I'm always fascinated at the wide array of people you see and meet in an airport and I'm always trying to figure out their stories as I sit and wait for flights - I just didn't realize it's the same thing going to dinner. There are so many people there from so many different walks of life - some there to eat, some there to do their job. It's something I will pay more attention to in the future.