A couple years ago, I helped a friend of mine out by working at her boss's Christmas party. (Actually, that sounds like I'm doing my friend the favor. Since it's a paying gig, really, they're doing me the favor, as money is always tight around Christmas).
It was my first time doing something like this so, to be perfectly honest, I was terrified. I'm not really a people person, I don't do well with strangers, I tend to panic in large crowds, I've never worked in the food service industry, take your pick on what might make me uncomfortable.
When I was hired, I was told I'd probably be parking cars. I know how to point and I wouldn't have to deal with a lot of people outside of "please park to the left", so this sounded like my dream job. Since I'd be outside in the cold, all I needed was some black pants and my black jacket, to make sure I was easy to run over in the dark. My friend loaned me a pair of gloves, and I made sure to wear a second pair of socks, to keep my feet warm. I was prepared.
We arrived to the party and the boss started handing out our jobs. They had enough help with car parking (uh oh), so I was to help my friend with the bar (UH OH). Again, I've never worked in the food industry, and dealing with people are not my strong points. Add to that, I could probably count the number of mixed drinks I've had on both of my hands with fingers left over. Then it was clarified that I would be basically keeping an eye on the bar and making sure wine and drinks were in good supply and fetching anything the bartenders would need. I've played go-fer for my dad on...well, pretty much every job I've worked with him on, so we're playing to my strengths again.
Someone shows me where all the excess stock is located and then the guests start to arrive.
I have been invited to two parties over the course of my years (three, if you count my surprise birthday party). One was fresh out of high school, when alcohol and I were not on speaking terms, making it a rather dull experience for myself, and the other was a birthday party that a friend supposedly threw for me, which was the saddest party ever thrown. This party was unlike either of those experiences.
For starters, there was a ton of people there. And despite the size of the house, they were all congregating around the bar.
And the strange thing is, despite my lack of any social skills, and how busy, noisy, and crowded it was, I actually had fun. I enjoyed people watching. I got to know a couple of the other folks who were helping a bit better. And on some subtle level, I developed an appreciation for football.
There were times where I would need to fetch a bottle of wine from storage, with a mob of people separating me from my goal. Since clubbing the party-goers with the bottle of wine was frowned upon, that meant slipping past them, clinging to the bottle like a football. By the end of the night, I was quite good at it.
So, yeah, it was a memorable experience. And despite the frustrations that come with the job, it was one that I was happy to do again.
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