By Beauty Damned

Office Central

So the nine day weekend is over. It was spectacular while it lasted, but it also felt nice to see my co-workers again and get back to work. Did I just say that? yikes. Work did turn out to be a bit strenuous at the end of the day. I was happy to see that my bosses obviously missed me and had saved up lots of work for me to do upon my return. I was so busy that I never made it upstairs to collect the awesome* logo emblazoned beach chair that is the gift from our firm which we "Administrative Professionals" received for "Administrative Professionals WEEK." (Yes, we get a whole week. Take that, Christmas!) Every year the firm gift is a bit of a joke around the office. Gifts given by almost any law firm on Administrative Professionals Week are almost guaranteed to be something that can be bought at a low price in high bulk. Like the gifts that are given at our other firm events, these are almost always stamped proudly with the company logo.

Last year the company logo was absent, but so was any glimmer of extravagance. We all received a pen holder that doubled as an alarm clock which cannot seem to correctly tell time, as well as a thermostat that cannot seem to correctly perceive the temperature. Oh yes, and if you turn it around, there is a place in which to slide a photo of a precious loved one. (I left the strangers in). The year before that we received a thermal picnic bag, but not one of the fancy ones with all the plates and utensils and cups and lots of room for food and wine, but one of the lower scale ones with room for a bottle of wine and a couple sandwiches if you don't mind them being smushed to smithereens when it comes time to eat them. I wasn't at this firm the year before that, but I've heard tales of administrative professionals week gifts past.

Listen to me going on like a thankless brat. All law firms are cheap. No matter how big and fancy they project themselves to be for the benefit of their clients, they are all inherently cheap. It's almost like, a law. Hahaa. But I'm not altogether thankless. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm very thankful to have a good job. And one thing I can say for my firm is that they always do their best to throw really good parties. Amazingly, they often succeed. Maybe because the employees themselves are so eager to have fun ;o) Sometimes the parties fall short of being all that we wish they would be (that would not include last year's Christmas party, which was actually awesome), but an effort is always made to create an environment where we can let it hang a little loose. Not all law firms are like that. A lot of them are quite stuffy and prudish when it comes to throwing parties.

I missed all of the *festivities* of Administrative Professionals Week because I took the whole week off. What could have been better? But apparently the things I missed included a big staff breakfast, distribution of the proud beach chairs and, on Friday, ice cream. (Don't worry about me though. I ate plenty of ice cream while I was home. Pistachio with cherries. Bellisima.) So the firm picnic is coming up soon. Could be excruciating, could be a great time. Only time itself will tell. But don't try to tell it by my pen holder clock, because that would surely be amiss.

The big story in the office today was the rats in Grand Central. Many of us eat often in the food concourse below Grand Central, so the revelation that rats are crawling out of the subway tracks and all over every-fucking-thing, was truly disturbing. Luckily, I have never eaten at the Chinese restaurant featured in this story, but I have certainly thought about it. I've passed by and looked and contemplated the lo mein and orange chicken, but always moved on to something else instead. Something else which was probably also tainted by the presence of rats. I no longer want to eat anywhere in this city. I know I've said that before, but I'm saying it again. There is too much filth in this city to feel comfortable eating anything that you didn't prepare from scratch in your own kitchen. Unfortunately, there are times when we have no choice or when taking your own lunch gets boring, but rats are a major deterrent. I will not be eating in that concourse again. That much is for sure.

* a hint of sarcasm.

Posted by Maria at May 2, 2005 08:40 PM | TrackBack