Please Close the Door Behind You

years ago, when my hair was 'large' and my hips not so much, i worked in a medical research lab as a research tech.  the only person lower than me on the lab totem pole were masters level students.   

anyway, research techs, with only an undergraduate degree, doing basic science research, at least back then, made no money.  the boss would promote you, kind of, but would reward you with such a tiny raise that you barely noticed a difference, so in our lab, our manager decided that to keep us happy, he'd give us equipment.  kind of.  i mean, he couldn't really give us an HPLC , a -70 degree freezer, or a centrifuge, but he'd make a special label with our names on it and stick it on the piece of equipment, and then when someone in the lab needed to use it, they'd ask permission.  "maryse, can i put my testtubes of plasma into your -70 degree freezer?"  "why yes, you may.  thanks for asking."  it seemed to keep us amused.

anyway, i seem to have run into a variation of this tactic again.  before the holidays, i met with my boss who proceeded to tell me that my project manager had to drop the project.  he never came right out and told me that i'd been promoted, but basically, i'm taking over her job, continuing with mine, and dropping a lot of the piddly crap that i hated doing anyway.  all in all, a good opportunity for me.  a raise in concrete terms was not discussed.

instead, i got my own office, with 4 walls and a door.  it's no pipetman, but it's something.