Worker Appreciation Day (aka, the coldest day ever)

It's Downtown Worker Appreciation Day! Though Mother Nature apparently read the memo wrong and thinks it's Torture the Workers Day. She's given the task over to Wind, who's taking the opportunity to express his anger over being stuck in middle management for too many centuries to count. He's chosen to deflect his frustrations on the good people of Portland.

But on the upside, Portland Downtown District and Portland Buy Local volunteers are out in full force to warm our collective working hearts.

There are booths set up in three locations: Portland Museum of Art, Lobsterman's Park and Monument Square.

There's coffee and breakfast goodies (including a salmon and bagel sample from K. Horton)

Volunteers are handing out bags filled with stickers, pens and valuable coupons for local businesses. (Any from "Get a free treat at Old Port Candy Co." to "Free long stem rose from Harmon's Bartons" to "Free Guatemalan friendship bracelet at Mexicali Blues.")

There's even a fellow giving massages (at least at the Monument Square booth).

A coworker just asked me if I feel appreciated. I said absolutely. But it has less to do with the coupons and coffee and more to do with these folks. ====>

It's freezing outside this morning and they're standing out in the brisk wind just so we feel appreciated.

Thanks guys. We do!

Downtown Worker Appreciation Day details

Some love for your labor: Downtown Worker Appreciation Day

It's true, things WILL be great when you're downtown.

At least on Thursday anyway, when Downtown Worker Appreciation Day fills the streets with gratitude, acknowledgment and best of all: free stuff.

Portland Downtown District and Portland Buy Local have teamed up to applaud the workers and workplaces that make Portland the bustling downtown that it is.

And the event couldn't have come at a better time.

The Journal of Invented Facts for Dramatic Effect recently published a study noting the striking impact employee underappreciation has on each aspect of the workplace, including worker performance, department productivity and cafeteria condiment supply levels.

The study, titled "Not Much Appreciated: The Correspondence between Worker Recognition and Freebie Hoarding," might enlighten company managers as to why workers often stockpile items (usually those of little to no value) when they are confronted with feelings of unappreciation.

"When an employee feels like he isn't getting enough acknowledgment from peers and/or superiors, she may be inclined to react passive-aggressively," stated study leader Noah Natoll, Ph.D., B.S. during a recent interview.

"She may go into the employee lunch room and take, say, fifty packets of sugar and a stack of Styrofoam cups. And it's not because she needs those cups or intends on using that sugar. Instead, it's her way of 'socking it to the man.'"

According to Dr. Natoll, even the most even-keel employee can quickly slip into a state of frenzied ketchup packet hoarding if work conditions don't meet certain levels of appreciation.

So, to my fellow Downtown Portland workers, I ask that you be proactive in the fight against workplace underappreciation. Seek out the three tables scattered throughout downtown Thursday morning. Find the PDD and Buy Local volunteers. Get your goodie bag of freebie items donated by local businesses.

Let's bring this workplace saboteur to a standstill.

Downtown Worker Appreciation Day details
[This event was originally scheduled for Wednesday but has been pushed to Thursday due to expected bad weather]