Posted by Sherman in Idaho [24.32.202.166] on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 23:48:43 :
In Reply to: Employee retireing OT posted by The Dodge Boys [64.121.152.7] on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 21:35:32 :
Every working man should be so lucky as to have a boss like you. The fact that you kept him on for 37 years says something about your values as well as his skills. I bet there was one year somewhere in those 37 where business was slow and you could have saved some bucks for your own pocked by laying him off. There's not much commitment either way these days. A guy knows he's going to get laid off as soon as business is slow, or they have a change in management, or some consultants or bean-counters show up and say a new guy will work for a dollar an hour less. So, when business is good and the guy's offered better prospects elsewhere, he's got no loyalty to his boss either. Disrespect works both ways.
Anyway, good for you for appreciating a valuable employee. The fact that you want to give him a nice retirement gift speaks volumes. As for gifts, I like all the things Glen suggested. Maybe that's just Idaho values. A lady I know got married a couple years ago and I gave her five silver dollars and two boxes of ammo. Now she gives me venison. Even gold watches aren't what they used to be. I have a nice gold Waltham pocket watch that the state of Oregon gave my great-uncle when he retired as a machinist. I carried it around until I'd almost worn the state seal off the back of it. 20 years late my father retired from Boeing after 50 years of service and they gave him a cheesiest POS gold-toned aluminum watch they could get, with a Boeing logo crudely stuck inside of it. Probably cost them $10 max. Anyway, gold, silver, and guns are always good.