Company Holiday Party

Last night Kylee and I went to my company's Holiday party. It used to take place in December but two years ago we had a wind storm on the night of the party and the golf club that we hold the party at lost power. So they rescheduled it for January and we had a big ice storm come in so we didn't make it that night either. Or vice versa. I can't remember which came first, the ice or the wind. But, after the January date HR asked everyone which month they prefer and apparently January won because it's been in January the last two years. I miss having a humongous Christmas tree and Christmas music at the party. And they had a cool little town display with an automated snow slide thing that was fun to watch. Now it's just a fancy dinner party.

We had a very enjoyable time. We sat with some couples that we haven't sat with before but Kylee knows them from years past and occasional office visits. Typically we arrive just before the dinner hour starts (we skip the cocktail hour) and leave shortly after the dancing hour starts. We arrived at the same time this year but were so caught up in our conversations with our fellow dinner guests that we left well after the time we told my in-laws we were going to leave so we could relieve them of watching our children. Kylee really had a good time. Especially since she whined and complained about having to go in the first place. The jumbo shrimp helped too.

One of the conversations that came up during dinner was that Benson (the company I work for) doesn't do any family activities. While we all enjoyed the dinner, everyone at our table has children. Most of us have not seen each others children except maybe once when they were first born and brought into the office for show and tell. Previous companies that I have worked for have had picnics in the summer. I found it encouraging that many of the people that I work with enjoy their families and want to do things with them. As families are becoming less and less important in our society I'm happy to know that I work with people who care and recognize the value of the family unit.

So now along with asking if I can work from home I am also going to ask about family Benson events. I'll probably have better luck with the picnics than I will with being able to work from home. Benson is a great company to work for but there are a few things I would like to see them improve on. A really big raise would be nice too but this year I'm just glad the company still has plenty of work for us employees and I still have a job. I can commute for that.