Team Building
Lonnie walks into my office without knocking and says, “Gonna need you to knock out a little busywork.”
I say, “Okay,” assuming he wants me to reorganize some meaningless database that no one ever uses or something similar.
He says, “HR approved an interoffice team-building mixer this Friday. Applebee’s. Need some flyers made up with Photoshop or something. Remember you being pretty good with those types of things.”
I say, “Why wouldn’t we just send out a company-wide e-mail?”
He says, “Nah. Flyer makes it seem more like a party, less like a work thing. Good to go?”
I say, “Yeah. Flyers. I’ll take care of it.”
Lonnie leaves and I look out my office doorway at Holly. I can tell she’s on Facebook by how intently she’s looking at her computer screen and how quickly she’s typing.
It takes me about half an hour to make the flyer and to print out fifty copies, which I put up in various locations around the office. I make sure to save one to hand-deliver to Holly, who is indeed on Facebook when I walk up to her desk. She takes the flyer and says, “Ooh, Applebee’s. Awesome.” She’s definitely being sarcastic.
I say, “I know. This company can be lame, but you get two free drinks.”
She says, “Are you going?”
I say, “Are you?”
She smiles and says, “I might be persuaded into going if someone I know is going to be there.”
“Well, then, I guess I’ll have to go.”
That night at dinner I tell Alyna that I have a mandatory team-building mixer for work on Friday night and I don’t know how late it’s going to go. She says, “They’ve been keeping you late more and more lately, and now they’re making you do some seminar or whatever on a Friday night? You should ask for a raise or something.”
I say, “It’s not exactly a seminar, but yeah,” just as Jane hits Andy in the head with a miniature carrot and laughs.