Do you have someone in your office who feels the need to celebrate every employee’s birthday in order to keep morale up? I’ll bet it’s the same person responsible for employee morale at the post office. Black balloons with your age on them, signs that say “you’re 30, 40, 50 etc.” Who thinks this is fun to the birthday girl or boy? Who?
This chapter is dedicated to predicting if you’ll encounter this joyous surprise party, how to Avoid it, when to confront the party planner directly and how to determine whether you have an office free of people who will inevitably ask, “How old are you today?” That is, if the planner hasn’t already announced it to the world. *
* See the section of the book dedicated to finding places of employment where you will always be the youngest.
Once, someone had a birthday party for a 23-year-old guy who was upset by it because he didn’t want anyone to know how young he is. I was already beginning my mid-life crisis by 23! However, it was comforting to realize that some people find advancing age to be a source of pride.
In any case, when you start a job, determine who the birthday planner is. Start conversations with gregarious secretaries, the football pool guy, or anyone who doesn't have much work to do. You will recognize that person by all the complaining they do about how much work they have to do. Anyway, annoying or not, once you find that person, befriend them and after a while let them know in no uncertain terms that you don't want to celebrate your birthday at work. If the person is excessively stubborn, mention some obscure religion that you ascribe to and how birthday parties could result in your death by public stoning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment