Office Party!

I've been speaking about holiday traditions that I'm not a fan of, but this week, I'd like to discuss a tradition that has stood the test of time for those of us in the white-collar realm: The Office Xmas Party!

For five (or more) days every week, we see our co-workers out of necessity, when questions need answers and deadlines must be met. When stress is on the rise, and the bottom line is primary, it's not always fun and games like it is at Dunder Mifflin, I assure you. We got cases to win, cases to resolve, and clients to keep happy!

But all that changes once a year at the holiday party! That's our chance to knock back a few! To socialize with our clientele in a relaxed and easygoing setting. To live, baby live! And for some of us, to "bust a move" with no fear of embarrassment or repercussions!

Little disappointed that the DJ neglected to introduce my jam, "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground, into the mix, but I still managed. Would have been fun to ruin the image and style that you're used to -- and one of these years they'll add a karaoke machine, and I'll bring the old stylings of Humpty (a/k/a Shock G) to life!

So without the rap/club equivalent of "They Call Him The Streak" being played, I went into my techno trance. Not enough to turn heads, thank goodness, but enough to keep the rhythm going for hours on end!

Yes, your fearless blogger needed to cut loose. And once every blue moon it's OK to do with my co-workers. I consider them my teammates, my compadres, my brothers and sisters in arms. Although some may consider me the guru of my own self-governing fiefdom, I look to many of them for advice, and am never disappointed. So this camaraderie should naturally ascend to the next level of partying just as hard as we work!

So it filled me with some holiday cheer. So much that the next morning, on only 6 hours of sleep, I ran a 6-kilometer race in Brooklyn at a pace of 7:30 per mile. Who says that you can't carb up on Coors Light?