So, a few coworkers and I stayed an hour late to finish this thing for a huge presentation my boss is attending tomorrow. As usual, we were given late notice of the important event and all day we rushed to meet the deadline. I was one of the last to leave the building and as I flew past him in the hallway, he utters to me in a deep, appreciative tone, "Thank you. Thank you for working hard and getting this done."

He had totally caught me off-guard in my mad rush to leave the building. I stopped dead in my tracks with a dumbfounded, puzzled expression and croaked out, "Huh? Oh, uh, thank-you....um, I mean, you're welcome." At that moment, I felt like an idiot.

It's always a surprise when the big man or woman of the company gives you props. It's a rarity that I appreciate. It's nice and it makes me realize that even though I think my boss doesn't recognize my importance, it's times like these that I understand he does. And that, that made my day and my work and all the complaining & whining I made, worthwhile.