Welcome to "Administrative Professionals Day."
It used to be known as "Secretaries Day" but the business and corporate world likes to come up with elevated names in an attempt to...actually, I'm not sure what this change was all about.
What I do know is that I am a secretary and yes, a man.
This isn't about gender role identity and breaking down stereotypes and walls. This isn't about wanting to be something whether or not it's associated with men or women. Make no mistake, this is about putting food on the table and paying rent. While people want to call it "Administrative Professional," let's be criminally vulgar here for a moment (please forgive me if this offends you, but this is pretty accurate and relatively tame) and call the positions what they are: Office Bitch.
Let's continue to be honest here and say that this "holiday" has turned into a time where people feel obligated to do something for fear of being thought of as a bad boss. I'm not saying ALL bosses are like this, but many are. I've had great bosses, good bosses who just weren't aware of and/or willing to change their own difficulties, and bosses who were flat out lousy (and no, my current boss isn't the latter). One year a not-so-bad boss got me roses. Don't get me wrong, I like plants and flowers, but roses? The next year he took me out to a lunch of my own choosing, a great mostly vegetarian place and we had a really great time.
Today there's a big lunch here at work on which "appreciation" is shown. I didn't RSVP because at this point a quiet uninterrupted lunch is a bit of an anomaly and I'd really love to have one today. My lunch hour is based around everyone else's schedule, even the underlings'. I can deal with this, that's how it goes in some offices and I'm very happy with the time my lunch usually gets to be, so I don't really get bugged by that. However, three times in the last week and a half my lunch has been preempted, rescheduled, and otherwise messed with, never with any prior discussion of it.
I realize this is part of what makes me wierd and not fit in with much of the populace at most jobs or much of anywhere else, but my attitude is that appreciation isn't a one day thing -- it's an attitude displayed year-round. Special days are great and I have little problem buying something nice for my sweetheart on St. Valentine's Day, but it doesn't mean a thing if I don't treat her well on the crazy stressful days, the mundane days where one or both of us feels restless or grumpy, the days where being nice to anyone is a difficulty...not just holidays, birthdays, etc. I'm not trying to be a jerk or unnecessarily difficult. My intention here isn't to complain. However, it's in my nature to point out contradiction and discrepancies between words, attitudes and actions. Administrative Professionals Day is a perfect example.

Today's DPB:
Mr. President,
Thank you for the the lovely flowers and chocolates.
Secretary Rumsfeld in particular found the roses quite lovely.
From your secretaries with love and squalor.