I haven't posted in over a week. That is because I normally post while I'm at work, and I haven't had time the past two weeks. Last week was pretty brutal in many ways, including work, my car, and people on eBay. As far as work goes, I've had to work five hours at home (after 7 or so in the office) every day from last Wednesday until this past Monday, including Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, I'm glad the work is finally over. In addition, I had previously decided to skip my work's annual Christmas party at the Cincinnati Club this year. Last Friday, my boss had a talk with me about how I should go because the president of the company would be personally offended if I didn't. So basically, I have to go, which pisses me off. I don't think it should be an obligation to go.

There are a lot of reasons why I don't want to go. First of all, I don't want to drive there. I hate driving (now more than ever), especially in places I've never been to, and even more so downtown. This trip encompasses the worst of everything. But whatever; I bought a GPS for a reason and I can deal with the trip even though it makes me very nervous. Second, I don't feel like hanging out with my coworkers on the weekend. Let me set the record straight - I like almost all of my coworkers. They are an interesting group of people and great to work with. But I have no desire to spend my personal time with them, especially since I already see them eight hours a day. This is intensified by the fact that I'm the youngest person that works there, by (I'm guessing) about 20 years. I may have overestimated a few people's ages, but you get the idea. I don't have any ill feelings towards my coworkers whatsoever; I just don't think I'll have much to discuss that couldn't be done on a normal workday. Thirdly, I'm a believer of separation of work and personal life. I don't bring my personal problems to work, so why should work intrude on my personal life? I don't talk about myself much to my coworkers for the sole reason that I don't really care to share details of my personal life at work. I'm not, like, weird about it - I just don't really participate in conversations that might bring up my personal life. Anyway, this party is certain to cross the boundary of what I'm comfortable with. The main situations I'll have to try to avoid are: being asked a bunch of questions and embarrassing myself, or trying to be social and once again embarrassing myself. I'm probably going to try to stay quiet for the most part and concentrate on stuffing my face with expensive food.

I know I'm overreacting to this. I know this isn't a big deal at all and people go to stupid junk like this all the time. Mike W. has told me about his work Christmas party that he literally has to go to or his career is shot. That gets me very pissed, and I don't even have to deal with it. I feel like it's extremely unfair, but whatever. It's none of my business. My boss told me about some of things he's had to deal with at other places, like being forced to donate to charities or risk his job. I couldn't deal with that. Junk like that makes this pseudo-mandatory party look like nothing at all.