Go Ahead and Ribbit In

Two years ago our holiday party occupied an entire hotel with fully stocked bars and numerous feeding stations with sushi, prime rib, and crab cakes.

Holiday Party 2004

This year's party was a little different...

Holiday Party 2006

The layout of the 2006 holiday party captured the essence of how far our company image had fallen within a two-year timeframe. The sushi and prime rib were replaced with spinach dip and cupcakes. No tuxedos, no dresses, no late night Karaoke. I was jammed in a conference room with other co-workers on a Thursday at 3:00PM. The DJ was replaced with a radio that was broadcasting holiday tunes from the moon through a bullhorn.

Upon seeing the potluck desserts before me I realized the power of denial. I have been able to convince myself that despite all of the company's negative publicity, poor bonus structure, and lack of identity, that things were still the same. Why did I not see the warning signs? How could this have happened? Why does this cupcake icing taste like paste?

Fact: If a frog is placed into boiling water, it will jump out. But if a frog is placed in warm water, and the temperature is slowly raised, it will become acclimated, until it becomes cooked.

I'm not going down alone, bee-atches.

While removing a Little Debbie oatmeal cookie from its wrapper, I casually scanned the smiling faces of those who were still here. At that point I knew my name was Kermit and I was officially cooked.