The Christmas Party

Earlier this evening, I attended my company's Christmas party. After originally thinking about not even going, I actually came around and was looking forward to it. It started at 6:00 p.m., which meant that I had an hour to kill after work. A number of people adjourned to a local bar to drink that hour away; I was invited to join them, and perhaps I should have, but I declined. Instead I went to the bank and put gas in my car, then killed the rest of the time by reading.

I arrived at the party a few minutes before 6:00, so I went inside and milled around for a bit, greeting the few people I know so far. Everyone was randomly assigned a table on their way in, so I didn't get a choice in who I would be sitting with. I ended up next to a lady named Kim, whom I had met before and who used to do the job I'm doing now. However, she was one of the people who had been at the bar, and she was drunk, so she wasn't terribly interesting.

Still, the party turned out to be a pretty decent time. They had a buffet dinner, and the food was really good (I particularly enjoyed the vegetable lasagna). After dinner was the prize giveaway. Everyone in attendance won something, and the prizes ranged from $10 in cash up to TVs, DVD players, digital cameras, iPods, etc. I won $25 in gift certificates from a restaurant at which I prefer not to eat, but that's cool. It's really nice of the company president to do this for everyone, and I'm sure I can find someone who will enjoy the gift certificates.

When I was called up to receive my gift, I was introduced to the crowd as the company's newest employee, and I got a nice round of applause. That was kind of cool. I'm just glad they didn't try to get me to speak.

I didn't stick around very long after the giveaway ended. That's when most people starting heading out, so I took the opportunity to join them. I did hang around for a little while to talk to a few people. Some people stuck around to play cards--a poker table formed, as well as a euchre table. I may have played some euchre if another table had formed, but the first four people sat down and it didn't seem like anyone else was interested. So I came home. I had a good time while I was there, though. I do wish I could have chosen who I got to sit with, or that I had met a few more people, but at least everyone knows my name now.