The Notebook
What’s in a notebook?
The first time I got a notebook it didn’t mean so much to me. meant so much to me. I wasn’t excited about it. This was during my first job, I was a rookie, more like the rookie of the year. Everyone in the organization liked me and vouched for me since I had volunteered there for years. I did a lot of user support which meant I interacted with so many of them and helped them out with their professional as well as their personal issues.
So, when the time came for staff to get notebooks, I was among the elect few who were remembered by the procurement department. I hadn’t anticipated it hence the lack of enthusiasm. The notebook was quite bit fancy. It had the organization’s name, color scheme and logo. I didn’t think much of it back then, it seemed like everyone had gotten one, or so I assumed.
The second time I received a notebook was in the same organization. This time, I got two customized books. The first was a leather-covered diary personalized with my name and email address engraved on the leather cover. This was also accompanied by a branded notebook with my personal details on it. There were about ten of these in the whole organization, which I learnt had been meant for the heads of departments. They were different and better in so many ways. I liked them a lot and was so proud of myself. All this while, the rest of the staff got the same old generic designs with the company name and logo on the cover. I couldn’t wait to use this notebook.
I fished it out in every meeting I attended, every chance I got. Every time I used it, most people were in awe, even among my peers at work. They couldn’t understand how I had managed to get a more personalized notebook. This pandemonium and shock got me excited for my next year’s notebook. It would probably be way better than this one. It was bound to drive them crazier than they were right now. They would lose their minds to see me with the next year’s design. I couldn’t wait for it. This went on for three more years.
The second last time I received a notebook was in last year. This time round, I bought one over the counter from a bookshop since no one had remembered to give me one. I had fallen from grace back at my job. No one could care less about my predicament which was evident through the lack of consideration even for the smallest of things in the organization; a notebook. There would be no customized notebook and diary for me this time.
In fact, the issuing department didn’t even think I was worthy of the regular old generic notebook. I didn’t even have a chair in my new office, I had to sit on a dirty plastic stool where I draped some waste printing paper over to make it comfortable for the first week before they got a chair for me. I called a friend of mine from the procurement department to inquire about the notebooks, perhaps they were still issuing some. NO! The last was issued yesterday, you mean to tell me you didn’t get one? That response told me all I needed to know.
I now vividly remembered my father’s words, the statement was so fresh in my mind even though it was four years old now:
Employers will use you at your prime, then dump you for the next fresh talent, don’t be complacent with any job.
I now knew where I stood in the organization. I had mistaken all those privileges to be mine, while they were only meant for the office holder. Not anymore.
The last time I received a notebook from the organization was this year. I was a different person. I didn’t complain nor report to anyone. I didn’t go looking for one, I found it secretly stashed in my bag as I was planning to leave. I had to ask a colleague to know how it got there. Apparently, they had been brought to the department while I was out of the office.
This time, it meant nothing to me. I just slid it into the drawer and left the office. Never gave it a second thought. I now knew where I belonged, not in the office, receiving cheap thrills. A cheap gift for a heavy yoke around my neck, not this time. This was the last time they were going to give a notebook. The organization thought everything was copacetic, but little did they know they just gave a notebook to a soon to be x-employee.
