Sat - December 13, 2003 at 07:59 AM in

Company holiday party


Ah, that great American tradition: the company holiday party. Ours is tonight. Thankfully, we are well beyond the era when spouses were banned (presumably so drunk executives could chase drunk secretaries). Nevertheless, the company holiday party still tends to bring a range of surreal social interactions. This isn't too surprising, when you take a group of people who normally interact very closely during the daytime while completely sober, and put them in a situation involving alcohol and late hours.

For me, the weirdest one was many years ago and a different lifetime, when the holiday party was where I first realized that my boss was having an affair with his assistant (it also seems I was one of the last people in the company to figure this out). This was no little fling, either, since they both eventually divorced their respective spouses to marry each other.

There's clearly different body language at a party between (a) people who just work together and are friends; (b) people who are flirting with each other, or might want to be more than friends; (c) people who have become more than friends; and (d) A Couple, maybe even A Married One. My boss and his (by then former) assistant were clearly in category (d). Granted that some coworkers become very close, but these two had the body language of a couple who had been married ten years.

They had also managed to keep their relationship very discreet in the office, though word had leaked out when she was transferred to a slightly different job (a boss/assistant romance being strictly verboten in this day of sexual harassment lawsuits). I could have found out sooner, had I been paying any attention whatsoever.

Our office holiday party promises to be much less eventful. I'm having everyone in the company over to my house for dinner. Spouses and kids are coming, too. We're going to grill fish (I have this fetish about grilling in the dead of winter), and everyone will probably be headed home by 8 PM so the kids can be in bed. The most excitement will probably be meeting the new Significant Others brought by the employees who have changed S.O.'s in the past year. At least, I hope that will be the most excitement.

Posted at 07:59 AM   Permalink    

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