Friday, July 28, 2006

A very weird day at the office

Claire Martin left me a surprise message on my voicemail. She called me “girl” and said I “rock.” Thanks to the wonders of digital technology, you can listen to her message too!

this is an audio post - click to play
It was all part of an elaborate going away party at work yesterday. I’m still not exactly sure why my coworkers threw me a going away party, especially since I’m not really leaving. I’m just taking a year off to go to Japan. What kind of an office throws a farewell party for someone who is going on vacation? Then again, what kind of an office lets someone take a year off to go to Japan in the first place?

A nice little gathering with some tea and cookies would have been acceptable. But this? This was way over the top. I mean, they arranged for my all-time favourite CBC personality to leave me a bon voyage message for crying out loud! (Claire Martin, if you are reading this, I am so sorry they put you up to this. I hope it wasn’t too weird. As you can probably gather, my coworkers are a bit odd. You, however, are awesome.)

And then the entire staff gathered in the office lounge to wish me well. There was a lavish spread of my favourite food, including Timbits, sushi and Skittles.

I also got a bottle of wine, an autographed copy of David Suzuki’s newest book, a pair of silver earrings, a gift certificate from Amazon and a feather boa. There were even speeches.

All of this just for a vacation? Don't get me wrong. I loved every minute of it but it was a bit much. Imagine if I actually quit my job. The party would be off the hook. They wouldn’t coerce Claire Martin into leaving me a voicemail, they’d fly her out to Vancouver to see me off in person.

No comments: