Sunday, February 21, 2021

Floating Here and There

Who would have thought that it’s already 2021 in the blink of an eye?

Or was it because I have been busy with life?

I’m fully aware that I haven’t been active on the blogosphere for some time now and since the reasons for which have been explained in the previous post, I won’t go into much detail about it. But one thing’s for sure; it’s rather difficult to balance everything - life, work, freelance, and the minute ingredients - on one plate without having some me-time. I really admire those who are able to do that without sacrificing anything.

Let’s start with the Christmas dinner.
 
Christmas decoration in a restaurant

I had left the office earlier to ensure that everything went according to plan at the specified location - at the behest of the higher-ups. It was the first time that the dinner had been organized and executed, so we were all in it like clueless folks with nothing to fall back on. What struck me as surprising was how the colleagues immediately sat with each other at the assigned tables. You know, like how cliques are formed where its members are tight-knit? Yup, that kind of thing. The departments were huddled together in the narrow space.

Seating arrangements never bothered me much unless it’s an assigned one. I’ve always preferred the ability to choose my own seat because it helps with an unplanned escape - to the toilet or out of the place to answer a call.

Cappuccino

Certain facts were also indirectly revealed where I was almost frightened by what was said - even if it was done with humor. Most of my close friends are aware that my sense of humor is close to non-existent, so what’s said as a joke could be easily interpreted as something intended.

Even though it was a celebration that ended late, most of us barely made it to the workplace in one piece the next day. I, on the other hand, woke up with a severe headache (close to the ones I had in college) and would have crashed in the office since it was a suspected hangover. Trying to work while tackling a hangover - even the slightest bit of it - was rather challenging, especially when I could barely focus on the computer due to a blurred vision. I almost dropped to the floor when I stood up because my balance was off and had to hold my lowered head while walking at a tortoise’s pace to prevent my body from any unexpected movements. Luckily for me, there wasn’t much paperwork that needed completion or attention - because I had a Christmas Eve lunch to attend to with a friend.
Outdoor decorative pieces 

My food companion was prepared for a change of plans at the eleventh hour due to me feeling woozy and unsure if I’d be okay on my own outdoors. After all, I had already informed him that I needed to attend the Christmas dinner and the chances of alcohol making its presence were also there.Surprisingly, the copious amount of coffee (two mugs of black coffee is already pushing the limit for me) really worked its magic; it helped to make me feel better - almost to the point where I was confident that I wouldn’t collapse. Seeing that the cafe that we wanted to patronize was closed for their temporary renovation, we had to change our original plans and settle for a quick alternative before swinging by the ice-cream cafe for some dessert. Coffee and tea were ordered together with our individual flavors before a short conversation took place.

In hindsight, we were lucky to have caught up during the Christmas festivities because the recent introduction of MCO 2.0 has boxed us in our current locations with no confirmed dates on when we’ll be able to travel interstate or across the districts. At the time of this posting, it took us close to 3 months of waiting before we were able to have another round of hangouts - with pictures.

And close to 3 months to sit down in front of the computer to pen this post.

5 comments:

  1. That is interesting to hear people will sit accordingly in their own groups at your Christmas party. I also see that happen a lot over here, and I guess it's a common thing to want to hang around people you know. It's great you all managed to get together - at least it sounded like everyone wanted to get together, so that's great. Here we had strict social distancing rules so for most part gatherings (last year) were restricted. I didn't mind at all as that takes away the social pressure of meeting up and putting on a facade.

    It's almost May and soon it will be the middle of the year. Time does fly. Better late than never writing a blog post. If you don't want to write a post, that's okay too. Please take care of yourself :)

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    1. I presume it's common all over the world too - there's a sense of familiarity and belonging when you're with people whom you know.

      'Here we had strict social distancing rules so for most part gatherings (last year) were restricted. I didn't mind at all as that takes away the social pressure of meeting up and putting on a facade.' - On top of that, you won't feel pressured to mingle too. :)

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    2. I so agree. There is always, always pressure to mingle whenever you are in a social situation. It doesn't help when you got anxiety - you feel the pressure even more.

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  2. 3 months is nothing. Says the person who took 2 years plus.

    ReplyDelete

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