Hard work pays off in corporate America! That, and the skillful disguise of cynicism and sloth as earnest toil and quick wits.

Good news, anyway, so far. I got promoted. Kinda more or less. I can’t get into the gory details of how I’m "kinda" promoted, seeing as how some of my colleagues may very well be reading this blog, and that would be poor form indeed. Suffice it to say that I’m pretty much off the phone, and have had an upgrade in status. Yea, I have been elevated again above my peers. First from contracted cannon-fodder to a real employee, and now into the second tier of my department. Look upon me, ye lowly, and despair!

What’s interested me about the whole thing, though, is the bureaucratic process behind the move. I’m used to much smaller organizations, where things happen because people figure it’s a good idea to do whatever it is they’ve a hankerin’ to do, and they happen right then, on the spot. In this large corporation, there are more or less ossified processes that must be followed. All the right forms must flow through the right hands and departments, all the correct runes must be struck; the requisite seals, blessings, signatures, and nodding of heads in Cthonian kaffeeklatsch rituals must take place before the anointment can occur. It’s really a trip.

The downside of all this, of course, is that there’s nothing like an impersonal, massive, bureaucratic process to illustrate one’s place as a nameless, puny cog. It tempers the hubris accompanying the promotion. I suppose that’s a good thing, overall. I’m sure my supervisors would express- or feign- shock and dismay that I would ungratefully paint the company- which prides itself on a worker-friendly look and feel- as impersonal, but the biggest place I’ve ever worked before was only about 80 people strong. To use a hoary old cliché, it was better being a big fish in a small pond.

I may also have the unfettered joy of resentment to deal with, as I suspect that a particular person I work with resents that I was promoted, and they were not. Can’t say for sure, but I think I’m picking up that vibe.That’s a new thing, too. Such fun we get to have when we’re all grown up!