Partay!
Posted on December 10th, 2009 –
Today, of course, I heard all the stories. In the back of a cab on the way to the club with the boss; that was a good one. Certain alcohol-fueled flirtations upon arrival at said club. Good, good. Keep it coming :)
Unfortunately, I bailed from the office Christmas party at close to two in the morning. Technically, the party was over, but it usually just disperses to another locale. Took me some time to convince my cubicle buddy that we didn’t split at midnight as he kept insisting we did. I may have been sloshed, but if I can stand, I’m usually pretty with it. The service stopped at midnight … ah, that’s why it seemed like we left at that time. Right, right.
I felt like it was a pretty full night. We closed the doors on The Academy of Spherical Arts, a bar and restaurant with swanky pool tables and plush couches. You put your beer down anywhere and they leap out from behind the counter with a machete and cut you down like the savage animal you are.
Despite the plethora of criticisms I have for the company, their ability to throw a good party is without reproach. In the summer we gather at the top boss’ house (top boss in our office, anyway), get shitfaced and play baseball and other wholesome sports until the sun goes down. Then the hot tub cover comes off, someone gets naked (never anyone you want to see naked), and someone does a face plant on the lawn (because it’s so dark, of course).
But the Christmas party is the king of office parties, in my opinion. It’s the one where you’re supposed to tux around and act all grown-up, but that usually goes out the window at the sixth pint. It’s when people tell each other what they really think of each other, and it’s sometimes … less than flattering.
That’s probably why they chose some place with pool tables, it gives us a chance to settle scores like civilized drunkards: a bracing game of billiards. Here I am crossing swords with K.K., the marketing design whiz. Note she’s doing the rock horns while I’m saluting our dark overlord. That’s how the argument always begins. The gentleman in the back is the one who will administer the final coup de grâce once one of us lies gasping for breath and begging for mercy. None shall be given, of course.
Jeans in a sea of dress pants and dresses. I could’ve come to work all dolled up in the morning but that’s no way to get through the day – I sit near the rads and in the winter, stuff melts. The alternative is to run home, throw the getup on, and get back before the buffet gets cold. Unless they schedule the party right after the office closes. Some people actually still work at the end of the day, you know?
Anyway, I remember my proletarian ass winning each and every single game I played. Unfortunately, it was after my sixth pint so that may not be one-hundred percent accurate.
Yeah, after about eleven, everything starts to get a bit fuzzy. But there were no reports of boorishness or naked promenades, so I think I’m okay. And I even remembered to grab my door prize on the way out so I couldn’t have been that far gone.
On the tail end of suspiciously little sleep and a headache that took its sweet time, I’m thinking that it was another pretty good Christmas party. Would’ve been better if we had the day off today though — working with a hangover sucks.
The coconut is unrelated. Ignore the coconut. Do not look at the coconut, it is incidental.
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December 11th, 2009 11:41 am
Looks like you had great time for a change, good for you. Love the pool table it realy look soooooo antique and cool and so the bar as much as I could see. Didn't know that you mastered this game? The present looks realy intriguing.
:-D
December 14th, 2009 8:16 am
Those were antique tables, Stanya. They were really serious about people putting their drinks down on them (the machete incident) but, strangely, allowed people to play on them. The table in the photos is the oldest of the bunch — apparently as old as Canada itself.
December 12th, 2009 12:10 am
Talk of a fun time :-)
December 14th, 2009 8:16 am
It was, Mr. G.A.G., it was :)
December 14th, 2009 11:49 am
Wow, I wouldn't expect pool tables so old in Canada. Usualy you can see something realy old mainly in Europe, just like our capital which is over 1000 years old. But those pool tables are real masterpieces. Thanks you for letting us to see them.
December 14th, 2009 7:43 pm
My pleasure, Stanya. They are very nice tables, but if the idea was to preserve them, they probably shouldn't let drunken people around them with pointy sticks and hard balls. Strange contradiction there.
December 16th, 2009 8:46 pm
Well at least someone experienced a good Christmas party this year. My place of work refuses to throw one in the city. Where everyone lives. It is either half way across the globe or just outside the city. Where no one wants to go.
Glad you had a good time! The place looked gorgeous!
December 17th, 2009 2:00 pm
That's a shame, Kato. Company parties are the one way to bring people closer together. But if your company is anything like the one I currently work for, bringing people together isn't even on the radar :(