Office parties can be boring or interesting depending on the kind of junta you work with and whether you have your own office buddies. Nevertheless, every office party has a few typical characters that initially seem amusing. Thanks to them, the boring party just got Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment! Have you spotted any of these at your office party?
The dancer: There will be that one person who takes to the floor from the word ‘go’ to break, shake and jiggle. The problem begins when they drag you to the dance floor. Well…for more than one dance. The more the booze, the wilder the dancer. It only gets worse when everyone else has retired to their chairs, but this dancer is unstoppable! His dance moves have now acquired a whole new form of dance and everyone in the audience is trying to coin a term for it.
The boss: He/ she is THE person to seek out in this party. If you are lucky, you’ll get to see a cooler side to your boss as he lets his hair down. Woe betide you if you have a not-so-fun boss, here’s a tip: down the booze, make small talk and exit!
The neck-romancer: Like the dark spirit necromancer that keeps sneaking upon its unsuspecting victims in Lord of the Rings, the office Neck -Romancer too sidles up from behind. If you find a pair of hands sneaking up your arms from behind you while you are dancing with a colleague, chances are it’s the neck-romancer. He may seem charming initially but once he breathes heavily in your ear through a drunken stupor, all that charm will just wear off. Here’s when your work bestie will will come to your rescue.
The freebie: Free food, free booze…what more does one require in life. Load a plate with food, pour yourself a drink and retire to the corner. That is the motto of the freebie. They will not bother others except for jostling people aside in the queue for food and booze. They will drink till they possibly pass out. But that’s just a mildly interesting sideshow.
The drunken lady: She downs her first two drinks in two long gulps and she is on the floor, dancing wildly, head swinging, eyes closed. The onus is now on you and her friends to keep her away from any more alcohol, stop her from walking up to the boss and uttering rubbish, and saving her from the clutches of the neck-romancer. You are constantly running after with a plate of dal-khichdi, urging her to eat and hoping she would calm down. You may probably find yourself right next to her while she makes frequent trips to the toilet bowl.
The hottie: She is the hottest girl in the room and she knows it. She already has everyone in the room milling around her for a dance while other women look on enviously.
The take charge teacher: She is the go-to person. Smiling, sober and makes small talk with everybody. She deftly manages to hold a social conversation with a senior while she ferries the drunks around the room, keeping them away from booze, feeding them curd rice and trying to prevent them creating a ruckus.
Make-out maniacs: They have trouble keeping their hands off each other. Half hour into the party, you’ll find them in a lonesome corridor or in the washroom or in any empty room. They will either nonchalantly walk back into the party venue or would have hailed a cab to finish their business.
Sad song singer: This man loves to sing sad songs to a select audience. The choice of songs gets worse as he gets drunk. And if this is happening at your house party, there is no escape. But you can’t tell him anything because he is probably your senior. So grin on the outside, grimace on the inside. If it’s really bad, just take a fork, put it in your pocket and keep jabbing your thigh painfully with it to relieve the boredom.
The prude: He/she doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t eat non-veg, doesn’t dance and doesn’t like to socialise much after work. They are perfectly friendly, interesting people at work. But at parties, they are aloof and with pursed lips and angry eyes, they glance at the boss who forced them to attend. They don’t trust people at parties and constantly check to see if their glass of coke has been switched with booze of the same colours! They only wait until the food is served, grab a few bites and leave as quickly as they came in.
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