So, last night I had to attend this Company do to say thank-you to some of the staff for all our hard work at The Hotel this last year. All the upper and lower echelons of management were invited which meant that Heads Of Department and their Number Twos got to go ~ hence my invite. The gathering took place at our Sister Hotel in Norwich and consisted of a three course meal with Champagne and Canapes to begin. Sounds alright doesn't it? Actually it was one of the most boring nights of my life!
I don't mean to sound ungrateful but the thought of spending time with the majority of the people I work with in an environment outside of work REALLY does not enthrall me at all at the best of times, let alone at something as formal as a sit down meal!
It didn't exactly help that I was pretty much informed by H.C (Head Chef) that I had to attend! Those of you who know me will know that I am not particularly keen in conforming and if you tell me I have to do something then it makes me less inclined to do it!
Basically what happened is this: I walked in to work the other Friday and there was an envelope waiting for me with my invite enclosed. I opened it, looked at it and thought "What a nice gesture, that's actually quite nice of them for a change....first I get a small pay rise, now this!" Then I considered who else would be going!
Thinking about the people I might have to sit next to filled me with dread. Out of all of them, there were very few people that I actually wanted to be near. I mean sitting in a room with Fingers (nicknamed that behind his back because he is missing a couple of digits), Miss Piggy (with whom I have a bit of a shady working relationship with at the best of times) or our Function Un-co-ordinator let alone my immediate boss, H.C, really did not appeal. Still I thought maybe it wouldn't be sooo bad.....
Then H.C comes out with a little comment about how it was the kind of thing that you couldn't really say no to, assuming I am going to turn down the invitation before I have even made my mind up, and tells Richard The Manager that he has told me I have to go! To be honest, one of the things that swayed it for me was when Richard turned around and said he was surprised I was going to go as I didn't normally do these sort of things. This kinda made me want to go so I could stick two fingers up and say "Naaah ~ see I did turn up!" Also, I was curious at seeing the other Hotel and having a swanky meal cooked for me!
The best thing about the evening was the food! After Canapes we were treated to an Amuse-Bouche of a pea and mint soup and cheese straw then given a small choice of starters and mains. I had Cajun Beef Skewers which were very tasty and a Rib-Eye steak, Medium-Rare, with Bearnaise Sauce and it was all cooked to perfection. Finally we were given a pre-dessert, a refreshing Sorbet with some Strawberries on the side, and again a small choice of desserts from which I chose Poached Pear with Ginger Ice-Cream which was simply sublime!
The food was the dogs bollocks and looked amazing and tasted really good but service was sooo slow! We sat down a little after 8 PM to eat and sweets went on the table about 10.30 PM-ish. Which was fine except I spent most of the evening bored off my tits. Not just because I wasn't drinking but also because I just found conversation with the people I work with extremely tiresome and there was only a few sparse moments where I felt relaxed and actually enjoyed myself.
I guess I went because I didn't want to look ungrateful and wanted to show I did appreciate The Company taking time out to show how grateful they were for our efforts especially as my job can often be a thankless task at times but they were still going at around 11 PM and by then, I really had had enough! It was all I could do to stop myself from just going to the toilet and making an escape without looking back! In essence, it was four hours of my life that I just lost that I could have spent sitting with my wife and daughter!
I know how this makes me look ~ it makes me seem ungrateful, selfish and a bit spoilt but you know what, who gives a Frak! This is my life, I get one chance to live it how I choose to and why should I spend it doing something I really don't enjoy? I think I summed the whole evening up aptly twice ~ first when I texted Mrs.Sparky to tell her it was "Food off of MasterChef but with the company of CrimeWatch" and then later at home when I told her I would rather put my nuts in a blender than sit through all that again!
There is a reason I don't socialise with people from work, or rather THOSE people, and last night proved it! There were exceptions, I did get on with a few of the people I spoke to there but as a whole I really could have done without all that and don't think I would do it again if I was invited. Or maybe I would because the food was pretty much top notch but I had a chance to escape a bit earlier when Mrs.Sparky's colleague Sarah made her excuses and left and I thought I would stay a bit longer so that I didn't look rude. Big error and one of two schoolboy mistakes I made last night! (The other was trying to gauge where to sit and ending up at the top of the table right next to the two Directors, only one of whom I enjoyed talking to ~ the other being his usual self, a bit of a prig!)
Needless to say, I will not be posting this Blog Post on Facebook! I don't particularly want the wrong people reading this after all and taking it the wrong way and I cannot be arsed to frak about with the Privacy settings just so only the select elite few get to read it! If you can't come on here to read this then that's your let-out and really you're not missing much by not reading this....But I do think I should add that the evening was a very nice gesture but too much about brown-nosing, networking and earning a few precious Brownie points for my liking!
I really am NOT a people person and last night kind of proved that to me! Like I tried to explain to Richard last night I do do eating out, I am just selective about the company I keep. And last night, the company really wasn't to my liking....
This is Sparky signing out and asking: Do You wanna die young or would You rather have fun? I know what my answer would be!
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