Friday night I did something I haven’t done in five years: attended an in-person company holiday party. After several years of virtual parties (or none at all), I kinda assumed traditional ones like this had gone extinct.
The fact that TobacCo only employs about 30 people must have something to do with that. Seems like the bigger the company, the less inclined they are to foot the bill for a big party. We had a company picnic last summer too, which felt similarly novel.
The party was held on the vacant fourth (top) floor of our building, which you might recall is a historic tobacco warehouse that has been converted into office space. Our offices take up the second floor, and there are a couple of tenants on the first and third floors, but upstairs is empty at the moment. It’s just one big unfinished open space, but I gotta say, they did a great job making it look festive. There were tables with fancy linen tablecloths set up beneath twinkling Christmas lights. I did think the mistletoe hanging above the men’s room door was a bit much, especially when I bumped into my boss there. Ho-ho-oh-no!
Just kidding about the mistletoe above the men’s room door.
Dinner was a catered Italian buffet. Interesting choice; I’ve never associated chicken parmesan with the holiday season, but I imagine the 59.11 million people residing in Italy do, so it’s all a matter of perspective. The highlight of the evening was a super talented musician who played everything from Eric Clapton and Foo Fighters to yuletide classics like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night.” I’d hire him if I ever had a big gala to throw.
Not gonna lie: I’m not the biggest social butterfly in the world, and two-thirds of the company is web developers and programmers who reside on the opposite side of the building. I don’t even know all their names, so I’ll never find the idea of an after-hours social gathering on a Friday night particularly appealing, but I’m glad we went. And, because we had tickets for the Rotary Botanical Gardens’ Holiday Light Show in Janesville, Team MarTar bugged out after 90 minutes.
Leaving a party like that is awkward, especially when you’re the first ones to go. I prefer to take a very stealthy approach, slipping out unnoticed. Is this the chickenshit way? Yes, it is. So sue me. We found a shadowy staircase on the opposite side of the building and slipped away into the night unnoticed.
The light show was a mere 10 minutes away. We went last year and were blown away, but the event this year was even bigger and more impressive: there were 1.5 MILLION lights, themed displays, and animations spread out over 20 acres. It’s so popular, people trek all the way from Chicago to see it. Also, they start putting up all those lights in August. They’ll probably still be taking them down come February.
Tickets are sold online, and while there’s no timed entry, they do specify the last entrance is 8:30 p.m. and it’s lights out at 9:00. We left the party at 7:45 thinking we’d have plenty of time, but we did not anticipate the very long line that stretched a half-mile down the block and must have been 400 people deep. I guess that’s what happens when it’s an abnormally warm 55-degree day, and a Friday, to boot. It took us 45 minutes to reach the entrance – 10 minutes past closing time – but luckily, they still let us in. And we were not plunged into sudden darkness at 9:00 as advertised. That might have led to anarchy and a lot of groping around to find the exit. We didn’t feel rushed per se, but we also didn’t spend a lot of time lingering. Next year we’ll just pick a freezing cold Tuesday right after sunset.
We didn’t do a ton this weekend, but it still feels like it flew by. I suppose being in the office at 7:45 on a Friday night throws off your Circadian rhythm or something.
Is your company having a holiday party? How do you make your exit: big announcement or on the sly? Are there any festive light displays that are part of your annual tradition?
Mark My Words 
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