Like all good things that must someday come to an end, apparently our regular gift to Tom of some boat tchocky put him in such a boat mood that he invited the entire office out on his boat to celebrate the new folks who joined from Branch 19. Well that was a lovely idea except that his boat held seven or maybe eight comfortably, twelve if everyone was drunk or family, and fifteen if you were evacuating the Achille Lauro.
So when thirty people signed up for an afternoon at the lake on Tom’s “yacht,” I knew enough to stay away from this. But Fred insisted that we go, so like the guy who rubbernecks at an accident by the side of the road and then rear-ends the car in front of him, I found myself swept up into the impending disaster despite myself.
It all started so well. Tom split the staff into two groups and took each group out for a spin around the lake. Fred and I were in the first group and everything was fine for a while, as Tom piloted the boat at what seemed like a small fraction of the speed of light. Some folks found the slightly choppy water exciting, and Tom stood there in his white linen pants and blue blazer and just grinned like he was having the best day ever.
I had to admit that it was nice being out on the water. The spray frizzed my hair, and I was having a somewhat crummy time until Hal (demonstrating Dodgers batting techniques and opining about how no Giants batter had proper form) swung his arms and knocked Jan into the lake. Fortunately she was wearing a life jacket and Tom directed unnecessarily while the rest of us fished her out. She sat on the floor of the boat and shivered the rest of the way back to the dock.
I sat on Fred’s lap to make room.
The other group had a better time of it, I think. And by that I mean that no one fell in the lake. Tom looked as though he had a fun time until he handed his diesel receipt to Ned, who shook his head “no” and handed it back to Tom. After that Tom wasn’t nearly so chipper. Anyway it was a good start to the long weekend. I have a bad feeling that there’s going to be a new HR policy about company social outings come Monday though.
Last 5 posts by Tammy- Trapped - October 18th, 2010
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