Office Party Gone Good

So I just had a really good time at work today.  Like a genuinely good time, unlike what is normally considered par for good times at work. 

At around 3 o'clock today there was a retirement party for one of the partners.  She had been there for 32 years.  It was pretty amazing that she was an attorney there when the firm first started with Hebb & Gitlin back in 1969.  At that time there were only 4 attorneys in the firm.  It was really nice to see Mr. Hebb and Mr. Gitlin talk about all the added stuff she took on way back when, like part-time secretary, receptionist, librarian and human resources...all on top of her lawyer duties.

Anyways, we went down there at 3.  I'm considered 'staff' because anyone who isn't an attorney is 'staff'.  Most of the staff is female.  This includes secretaries, the marketing department, human resources and the library.  There are only two staff members in the library, which is my department.  Maggie and myself pretty much run the show, which is very cool because we are both 25 (which is very young in the library profession, let alone to be running a department at a big corporate law firm) and we get along pretty well.

So, down at the retirement party everyone was there.  Most of the staff congregate together and the attorneys congregate with each other, but its pretty well segregated.  Of course, that means that I'm drinking my Heineken and staring at my shoes while the women gossip about their husbands.  Boring as hell.  There is a pretty big percentage of female attorneys, but I only offer that tidbit so it doesn't sound like the attorneys have some kind of 'boys club' or something.

So I'm standing there drinking and not much else.  I happen to look around and I see one of the younger attorneys motion for me to come over.  At first I was a little hesitant because I figured the group of them were talking law or something.  I walked over and he asks, "Hey, I hope you're not over there talking about libraries."  I wish the Dewey decimal system was that intriguing.  Then he asks me if I like baseball.  Shwing!

Turns out I'm a huge baseball nut.  Him (Steve) and a few other younger attorneys were talking about the Red Sox.  Well, I'm a big Yankees fan so naturally the conversation picked up a few notches.  Its not really important what points were discussed, but it felt damn good right then to be talking baseball with a beer in hand.  I usually leave work at 5, but I volunteered to stay a little longer tonight and shmooze with the male employees for a while.  

Its not like its hard to talk to the attorneys or anything, but during work, they talk in legalese and it is a foreign language to me.  When you throw 80 of them into an office, it can be a little intimidating.  It all turned out awesome though and I got the feeling that I broke through some kind of imaginary barrier because now we have some kind of social relatioship and I know there will be baseball talks whenever they pass by my desk this spring.  Woot!