That “synergy” everybody is always talking about
You know, the RTO (Return To Office) “synergy”. I am not under an RTO mandate but I actually felt some of that synergy today.
I dragged the GG to a retirement party for a co-worker. It was at another co-worker’s beautiful house in the country. I was TERRIFIED about attending this party. It wasn’t because of covid. It was my social anxiety kicking into high gear. I have seen exactly two of the attendees in person since you know when (2020).
I really really wanted to bag out of this thing but I also knew that I couldn’t really do that. In the end, it was the absolute right thing to do. As often happens with me, once I got there, my social anxiety melted. A wee bit of whine helped with that of course. But also it was absolutely amazing to see all of these people again. Of the people who attended, I am still the newcomer at “only” 18 years of service. I suspect I am also the oldest. As I have said before, we are a “mature” team and I figured out PDQ after I was hired that I had landed in a good place. You didn’t get hired if you didn’t seem like a good fit and people treat each other with respect without fail.
The GG was a bonus. He is more of a social butterfly than me and quickly made friends. He played a bit of shuffleboard with Mr. Bear 
(neither of them know how to play) and promoted the North Country Trail with great success. Telling stories and showing pictures and maps. Wouldn’t you know, he had a few brochures stashed in Cygnus to leave behind. But people *were* actually interested.
We didn’t stay for the whole party because we had another engagement at Dexter’s Pub for dinner but I had a hard time dragging myself out of there.
Cheers to my company and team!
May 3rd, 2025 at 7:30 am
Glad you had a good time. I’m exactly like you concerning groups of people. I hate socializing in groups. Dread it. Lose sleep over it. But usually have a good time. It’s annoying that at my age I can’t control my anxiety in the face of proof that it will all (usually) be OK. On Monday I have to stand in front of 60+ people and speak through a microphone (ugh) and lead a meeting. Am I a mess? You bet. But it will probably be OK. I do this annually (it’s a thank you lunch/board meeting for volunteer group that delivers meals on wheels) so you’d think I would be used to it. But I’m not. And last year we had a bit of a mess with the restaurant we chose, and the meals were not delivered efficiently so I had to return to my waitressing days. It all worked out but I made a hash of the speaking part b/c I was so frazzled.
May 4th, 2025 at 11:45 am
I can relate to the dread of going to a social event and then being glad I attended. It sounds like a very positive experience.