Congratulations...I got promoted!!!

This is one of the most hilarious episodes of my life and I will look back this and laugh for years to come...


This is how the story goes....


I have been exposed to the corporate world for 2 years. Outstanding awards and encouraging conversations with my bosses meant was that I felt ready for the next level - ready for a promotion. :D

September 1 is the cut-off date every year for deciding who should be promoted and I missed the prerequisite of being 2 years at my position by 3 months. September 2008 would make me 2 yrs and 9 months into the job and so I felt that missing the margin by just a little bit was so unfair. I kept wishing if bosses could bend the rules a little and consider me. As it is, I had performed well and the 2 years rule had a caveat..."considered for promotion whenever one is ready for the next level"...Hence, 2 years was just a guideline...

Then the events unfolded....

We had received "unofficial" news that our senior most manager got promoted to a Partner. And that is the a big thing. Everyone was busy congratuating Big Boss - in private, as the news was "unofficial".

Partner promotions get leaked and are known earlier, for everyone else they have to wait for the congratulations email from our MD on Sep 1.

Everyone was talking about who all will get promoted, how much will the pay rise be considering that we have a very good year. Good year!! = more business!! = better chances of promotion!! = Easier to ignore the 2 year deadline!! = I get promoted!! - This was what I made out of this entire buzz.

It was 17th August and my company had organised a lavish full day beach party to celebrate year-end and to thank everyone for their contribution. I had already gulped a few cans of beer and that’s when Big Boss walked up to me for the first time. He looked all energised with the news of his promotion and with the fact that his wife was going to give birth to their third girl. He likes calling them "Princesses".

He came and told me... (rather, what I heard)..."I would like to congratulate you for the hard work that you have put in. Your effort that has led to promotion. Do not tell anyone as it’s not official yet"...There it was!!! I went numb...I heard congratulations...your effort...promotion...not official...I was being promoted!!...And the news came form none other than Big Boss who had access to all the confidential stuff. So it was as reliable as it could be.

I called up Home, Ashu( my brother) and Ruchi ( My co-blogger and a person very close to me) to break this news. I told them it was un-official and I should get the official news soon via email and decided not to tell anyone else until things got confirmed.

The next 2 weeks passed as slowly as one can imagine. Anxiety, hidden excitement of secrecy, faking to be unaware of promotion and wanting but not being able to celebrate were all first time experiences for me.

Time ticked by. Dad, Ruchi, Ashu would call me to ask if the mail came out. I said not yet and waited. Waited waited and waited.

Then on Monday, 3rd September - the D-day, I was excited. I was refreshing the email once every millisecond. I was just pretending to work. Every pop-up reading ‘You have got mail’ made my heart sink...but led to disappointment as they turned out to be flyers of the numerous online magazines I have signed up for.

Then the email came.... As I read through I could not believe it...my name was not in the list. I was not promoted

In a complete anticlimax I called up Ruchi and told her I have not been promoted...she said call up your boss and ask him. I hesitated...Big boss is now a Partner. He got promoted today, will must be enjoying a party with his family. It was 8 at night. Somehow, Ruchi convinced me to make that call...

You can feel out of place asking someone, "Why I was not promoted". I felt the same.
I asked him as politely as I could. "I remember you congratulated me at the party. My name was not in the list and I am a bit confused"...He replied.”What! Did I say that??....aaaaa.....ohhhh!!....I was actually congratulaing you for the hard work that you have put in that has led to my promotion. Without your efforts my promotion would not have been possible!!!.....You are not due yet. We are trying to get you promoted next year in March".

I kept the phone down, could not believe it..., and then could not stop laughing. I called up home, Ruchi and Ashu and neither could they stop laughing...I had made a complete joker out of my self ( ass is too strong a word :))

Moral of the story - ASSUME = ASS (of) U (and) ME. Assumption + false signals + unrealistic expectation + the habit to dream (especially when you are drunk) = recipe for disaster. :D

But for me, I will continue to dream...set high expectations from myself and still think that the bosses could have made an effort to bend the rules for me...I will continue to give in my best to my firm..