Company Picnic

Years ago when I first started working as an engineer I was told by one of the senior engineers that in order to get ahead wherever you are, you need to attend all the company functions.  So when they have an employee picnic, or a Christmas party, you had better be there to mingle with the higher ups so they recognize your face.  I always thought that was good advice.  Unfortunately, for most of my working career, I have been at places that had done away with those sort of company functions.  And honestly it would have been a chore to get me to go to a company function at the place I was at the longest because quite frankly, I didn’t like the people I worked with and didn’t feel that the owner/president of the company valued anyone’s opinions or work, we were all just there to follow his orders (which is why I finally left).

But this year, I finally had the opportunity to go to a company function.  Badger Meter held its annual company picnic at a Brewers game.  We had a big tent out in one of the east lots for a tailgate, games, raffles, etc.  The company president gave a little two minute speech thanking everyone for their hard work and efforts and also announced we had another record quarter.  That is why I love working for this company, especially after being stuck in some real dead end places, I know what a real crappy company looks like.  Overall, the tailgate wasn’t bad.  I only ran into one person I work with on a daily basis though, but at least I went, right?  The girls liked it because they got a Brewers game out of it and the Brewers ended up winning in extra innings.