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The store was abuzz leading up to the most gala event that Computer Czar store 893 would have the honor and privilege of hosting. After the big night, they'd have to wait an agonizing three months until the next one. It was time for the Quarterly Computer Czar Store 893 Service Recognition Award Ceremony.
To even be considered for such an honor required a strength of will and determination that only a small number of the employees lacked. Not only did you have to not get fired or quit, but you had to continue to not get fired or quit for one, five, or ten years!
It was a mandatory event for all the employees, and many just stayed for the extra 15 minutes past the end of their shift. Susan, the store manager, stood behind the beat-up podium that generally sat in an ignored corner of the warehouse. She worked her way through the names, calling specific employees up to retrieve their awards — for five years a pen and pencil set, for ten years a corporate logo pocketknife.
When she was down to just two awards left, she proudly said "...and in recognition of five years of service, Poss Training!" No one moved. "Poss — is he — she — is Poss here?"
It took John a few seconds to realize what had happened. P.O.S. Training was a cashier account used for testing purposes that had found its way to production about five years prior. Poss had worked about a half hour when the new POS systems were installed, and picked up a few minutes here and there when the occasional update was rolled out.
Still, it was surprising that Poss didn't have the decency to show up to the awards ceremony. Maybe the invitation got lost in the mail on its way to 123 Main St, Anytown, USA 12345.
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So who was collecting the paychecks and did Poss get audited by the IRS recently? Lack of a SSN? Are they an illegal alien?
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Re: The Service Awards Ceremony
2008-04-08 10:19
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by
Sebastian
(unregistered)
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I think the WTF is, while technically rather minor, rather major on a social level. The goal of such awards ceremony is to foster employee loyalty and create the feeling of personal recognition. What better way to spoil the "personal" part than grantin an award to a test account. That says: The person reading the list doesn't spot the error, implying she doesn't know the people she's awarding at all, she didn't even try to look at the employee's file, the list was generated automatically, no one cared to look over it.
Sebastian |
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In my experience test accounts are very robust. You create one now and 10 years down the line it's still lurking in some dark corner of the system.
In fact I'm pretty sure that in the case of nuclear war only the insects and tests accounts will survive... |
Re: The Service Awards Ceremony
2008-04-08 12:38
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Just Some Guy
(unregistered)
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I worked for an ISP whose very first customer was Mr. Blank. For real. So the very first row in our customer database was "ID: 1000 NAME: BLANK". That account got deleted more than once by well-meaning and unsuspecting customer service people.
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Re: The Service Awards Ceremony
2008-04-08 13:55
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by
POS TRAINING
(unregistered)
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Alex, Please remove my address from the article.
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