And This Week's Theme Is...

Why do all company parties have to revolve around a theme? If we're having a summer party, why do we need a beach theme? Why do hula skirts and Gilligan look-a-like contests have to be part of the festivities? I remember entire theme *weeks* at one job, just like Homecoming week in high school. You know, hippie day, crazy hair day, pajama day, etc., etc. Am I supposed to like my coworkers more when we're dressed in slippers and bathrobes? Does the jerk down the hall become less of a jerk with purple hair?

Another favorite was the work bowling outing. Bowling is pretty fun, don't get me wrong. Especially when there's beer and pizza and missing work involved. What is not so fun, however, is being broken into teams and having to come up with a team name. And then having to coordinate outfits to match the team name. I call that Bowling on My Parade.

Once, when I was 24, I beat the CEO in a putting contest at a game-themed party. Something tells me they never held that contest again.

Games were a big deal at the book publisher. I remember an entire day being devoted to board games. Each office had a different game set up and we had to go around the building, playing games and yelling "Uno" and "You sunk my battleship" as a team building exercise. I'm all for playing games, as long as quarters and thumping a table are involved...

Although, now that my days in corporate America have come to an end, how often do I find myself playing Candyland in the middle of the day or yelling "Duck, duck, goose!" to a group of youngsters? The answer is quite unfortunate, to quote my cousin!