Number Two
And by that, I don't mean I'm taking a crap. Well, I am sorta, but, well, you'll see.
As I have no doubt, just about anyone who's reading this likely has read one of the massive number of Decipherian blogs and them talking about all the bittersweet memories they have of working there.
I sat last night at work, attempting, somewhat, to find some good memories there, and failing. Which is a really caustic statement, but, well, I was miserable. Thing is that it wasn't all Decipher's fault, it was mostly mine. There are good times, don't get me wrong. Walking into the office like Santa Claus carrying a huge EB bag which contained an XBox, three more controllers, two games, and other random crap amuses me quite a bit.
Probably the fondest memories I have of Decipher were goofing off with Bishop when we were both interns. Really, we had nothing to do, and were being paid by Decipher primarily as a courtesy, but they were good times. I learned nothing during this period, primarily nothing about how to work in an office environment, something I imagine I'm still not terribly good at.
Most of my vitriol is somewhat contained, there were mistakes made, and circumstances made things difficult. It was while working at Decipher that my girlfriend of, eventually, 6 years, broke up with me. Twice. And it was while working at Decipher that my beloved grandmother passed away. Following my theory on age (which someone will need to remind me to post about), I can find very few memories that stuck with me as things I won't forget. Some things I am very proud of, such as the foil and iconography work, and some things I am not. Like the O-word. I am happy to have worked there, despite my largely bitter memories of the time, because Decipher taught me a very valuable lesson, one which I am inclined to repeat to my friends here every time they complain about their jobs.
No matter what job you hold, some part of it sucks. And you have to deal with it.
Apparently, none of them listened, though, as they all quit on me. I feel like I'm on night 15 of 1001.
In the end, I feel as though, on leaving for St. Louis, that I had left my parents in Decipher's care, not that they needed caring for. And in the end, a company which my father worked his ass off for, even without thought of payment in his tournament directing years, and which he told me on a regular basis was his "dream job," turned its back on him. I can understand their decision, but I can't forgive them for letting him go.
I hope that the remainder of my friends at Decipher bank enough cash and man hours to enable them to get better paying jobs elsewhere. Then I won't feel any regret when I hope that the company rots. But until that time, those that remain, good luck. You're gonna need it.
As I have no doubt, just about anyone who's reading this likely has read one of the massive number of Decipherian blogs and them talking about all the bittersweet memories they have of working there.
I sat last night at work, attempting, somewhat, to find some good memories there, and failing. Which is a really caustic statement, but, well, I was miserable. Thing is that it wasn't all Decipher's fault, it was mostly mine. There are good times, don't get me wrong. Walking into the office like Santa Claus carrying a huge EB bag which contained an XBox, three more controllers, two games, and other random crap amuses me quite a bit.
Probably the fondest memories I have of Decipher were goofing off with Bishop when we were both interns. Really, we had nothing to do, and were being paid by Decipher primarily as a courtesy, but they were good times. I learned nothing during this period, primarily nothing about how to work in an office environment, something I imagine I'm still not terribly good at.
Most of my vitriol is somewhat contained, there were mistakes made, and circumstances made things difficult. It was while working at Decipher that my girlfriend of, eventually, 6 years, broke up with me. Twice. And it was while working at Decipher that my beloved grandmother passed away. Following my theory on age (which someone will need to remind me to post about), I can find very few memories that stuck with me as things I won't forget. Some things I am very proud of, such as the foil and iconography work, and some things I am not. Like the O-word. I am happy to have worked there, despite my largely bitter memories of the time, because Decipher taught me a very valuable lesson, one which I am inclined to repeat to my friends here every time they complain about their jobs.
No matter what job you hold, some part of it sucks. And you have to deal with it.
Apparently, none of them listened, though, as they all quit on me. I feel like I'm on night 15 of 1001.
In the end, I feel as though, on leaving for St. Louis, that I had left my parents in Decipher's care, not that they needed caring for. And in the end, a company which my father worked his ass off for, even without thought of payment in his tournament directing years, and which he told me on a regular basis was his "dream job," turned its back on him. I can understand their decision, but I can't forgive them for letting him go.
I hope that the remainder of my friends at Decipher bank enough cash and man hours to enable them to get better paying jobs elsewhere. Then I won't feel any regret when I hope that the company rots. But until that time, those that remain, good luck. You're gonna need it.
posted by Kindralas at 7:20 AM
3 Comments:
I hate to say this, but as Old Guy In Residence, I guess it's my job. Dreams fade.
This is the second time in my life that the job I was doing essentially became obsolete. Both times, they were jobs I enjoyed and I was proud of the work I was doing.
It's true, Brian was there, I moved my family here to work at Decipher. And now that's gone. Which puts us sort of adrift, but we've still got each other. We remind ourselves of that every day, and that's the most important thing.
Um, ditto. Everyone else seems to be acting like the adults we're supposed to be, with some wistfulness and resignation. At least someone else posted a little bit of anger (or, I suppose, disappointment might be a better way to put it) other than me.
Hey, Bishop here!
One minor point to make. I actually had plenty to do most of the time I was at Decipher. However, it was still grunt work and far from motivating or educational. During the time Brian was there, I was doing:
- (tournament director)'s work entering rankings or ordering prize support.
- Cutting and pasting into HTML templates for (web master). One page per card. I'm not kidding.
- Occasionally helping out with customer service. At least (customer service rep) was fun to talk to.
My first year there was probably the best. As an art intern, I got to chop up first-generation master films of the Star Wars movies, choose images for a significant number of cards, and keep (art director) and (game designer) from killing each other. Bottom line, I was involved with the process.
It went downhill from there. I elaborated, but the post is getting long!
3 years (almost to the day) and a $1.00 raise later (to $7.50), I took full-time work elsewhere.
4 jobs later, Brian couldn't be more right. While every job has an aspect to it that sucks, some suck more than others. Oddly enough, Decipher is still the company I've worked the longest for.
Brian and I were stuck in a unique situation. We weren't accustomed to office life because we weren't included in one. We didn't have desks, we had boomerangs. We never attended any meetings. We didn't provide input; we were handed work. Yeah, we were the low men on the totem pole, but we couldn't stay there forever. We needed responsibilities. The few I had actually diminished. The mindset at Decipher (straight out of marketing vp's mouth) was that it was a privilege to have our jobs because there were a bunch of people who'd give anything to be a Decipher intern. What can I say? The novelty wears off after 3 years.
OK, not-so-minor comment. But I was never one to be terse anyway.
Bishop
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