Holiday Work Party = Day of Anxiety

I had my first annual holiday work party last night. I did not want to go -- for several reasons, but mainly because my company of employment contracts their employees out to CDC. So we're just a bunch of contractors who work in different buildings in Atlanta. I only knew 3 people in the entire organization. Well, after spending a significant part of my Saturday looking for something festive to wear for this party and after realizing how weird work parties are, I pondered on some of the events that took place yesterday and came up with some take-home lessons:

1. Banana Republic always has your back. The prices are a bit steep for me, but it really is the go-to place for semi-semi-formal clothing.
2. Hotel conference room carpet is always ugly.
3. I really like Asians. (I always knew that, but it was reinforced last night. Thankfully, two Chinese women at my table let me sit by them and laugh with them.)
   
4. For a lot of women, semi-formal clothing means baring cleavage.
5. When an African man dances in his traditional dance, it is okay for women to lose their normal inhibitions at the office and stuff money in his pants. (Seriously, people -- this one's real.)
6. That lady in her mid-40's who seems so professional at work can booty-dance as much as an 18-year-old college freshman.
7. If you sit through work holiday party raves, it isn't a guarantee that you'll win a doorprize when it's over.
8. Never go to a business party alone. You may think your friends don't want to go to your work party with you, but once you're there, you'll realize that the embarrassment of asking a friend to go to a work party with you because you don't have a "date" is much less than the embarrassment you have watching GROWN ADULTS booty dance.

Thing I'm thankful for: not drinking.