two company Christmas parties…

Thursday was the TASS party – a company that Jerome worked for when he first arrived in the US; actually, this was the company that brought him over to the US. He hasn’t worked for them for nearly 5 years, but he’s invited to the party every year. It surprises most people I tell because, I mean, have I been invited to an MSX party, an Innovative Solutions party, an EDAG party or any type of Chrysler party since I’ve moved on? No. Actually, I’m not sure that those company parties exist anymore.

Thursday’s party was a bit different than what they usually present. This time it was in their office building. They had the hors d'oeuvres catered and must have purchased a bunch of wine and pop and set up a little bar area in the lobby/hallway with a bartender. It worked. They also set up a Wii in one of the offices which was a big hit.

It was nice to visit with everyone; old and new.

Saturday was my companies Holiday party. It was held at the Troy Hilton. We had a family style sit down dinner and the classic “fountain of chocolate” dessert (plus plenty of other sweety things). Afterward, they set up several tables to pretend gamble with buckets of chips. Dance floor and open bar.

It started at 6pm, but for some reason I had it in my head that it started at 7:30pm, so we arrived fashionably late for a 7:30 time slot…so, really 2 hours late! The guys had been saving us a couple of seats at their table, but being that we were so late, they ended up forfeiting a seat to another person. We ended up sharing a table that was meant for 10, with just one other couple; George S. and his wife.

Nearly as soon as we sat down, dinner was served. I think that this is probably the best time to have come. We did however miss the hors d’oeuvres in the hallway, but from what I heard about how jammed it was, I don’t think we missed much.

This was the same room that held the MS Society “Care-giver of the Year” awards last year, where my mother won care-giver of the year.

After gambling, we stayed to dance one dance and left. That was around 11:30pm.

Apparently, my company is faring pretty well during this economic downturn – and we were told that we would be receiving a bonus. That was very unexpected and quite nice.
One funny story about the night was told to me by one of my co-workers, Tony. It was right after the great speech from our President telling us how well the company is doing and that we would be receiving a bonus. Tony was standing by the bar near the President of the company and two of his underlings. Another colleague, Daniel was standing with them, uncomfortably trying to keep up with the conversation. The subject of “Joe the Plumber” came up and Daniel said something like “speaking of plumbing, the plumbing at BR2 really stinks”…the jovialness of the conversation dropped and the President said something like “does that mean you have to flush twice?” The colleague, knowing that he made an error in judgment tried to grab onto anything that would keep him afloat. He looked around and found Tony's face in the crowd and said “isn’t that right Tony????” Tony totally denied him. – Maybe you’d have to be there or at least know the guys, but it was really quite funny.