If someone gives me a line I can make a joke out of, I have a hard time passing up the opportunity. A very hard time. Even when saying it aloud can be to my detriment. Even when I realize beforehand that saying it aloud can be to my detriment.
This fact about me came to mind in the context of a team-building program today for my work group (for context, I work at a government agency). One of the exercises we did involved having someone try to get all of us to drink buttermilk, on the ground that the boss had ordered it, because recent studies had shown that it's extremely healthy. Because it's the first day of the program, we only needed to try a little bit, or if it really bugged someone, just smell it. After a few minutes of giving the poor guy a hard time, most of us were ready to at least smell it. Then he opened the carton, and the contents within were green. The guy literally fell to the ground, but after a couple of seconds, he went right on with his salesmanship and proceeded to pour us each 2-3 oz samples. Like most of us, I smelled it but didn't taste it. One person tasted it, and a couple wouldn't even smell it (as I had suspected, it turned out to be food coloring).
Afterwards, the facilitator explained that the exercise was about dealing with change, and that even if you believe you can deal with change, oftentimes additional surprises (the green milk) come out that you're not necessarily ready to handle. She then asked, "Have you ever seen someone try to explain the green milk as though that were part of the plan all along?"
I raised my hand and she called on me.
"Sure, Tuesday night."
I'm pretty sure I'll still have a job tomorrow.
1 comment:
In case you're from another country or not quite as political as those of us in the DC area, Tuesday night was when President Bush gave a televised speech on Iraq.
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