Zoo Time!

 So, I work for one of those types of companies that force their employees to travel an entire six miles once or twice a year to meet with anyone and everyone else who must also travel great distances to see each other. Since we work remotely, and by that, I mean that at any given time, there may be only three humans in the actual brick-and-mortar building that was purchased with pride and admiration years ago. Believe me, when I tell you, the building is amazing!! I truly love it, but no, I wouldn't go back to working in a real-life building again - NOPE!

    This year, because they could, the HR department decided we should all have fun at the Oklahoma City Zoo. I have to say, they made a really wonderful choice. Not only, was the weather perfect for walking our butts off, but almost every single animal was out because of the cloud cover and lower temps. I would say, if I were guessing, that the high today was in the mid-70s but at the time we met up, which was around 9:00 a.m., it was just about a perfect 62 degrees! Oh, can't tell you how wonderful it really was.

    I met up with folks I've talked to for a year on nearly an everyday basis, but had never met! My boss was one such meet-up! He brought his wife and their kids, and I felt as if we'd been hanging out for the entire year. I recognized him immediately! Then, there was another manager who, believe it or not, didn't have to show up because he lives outside of the one-hour radius rule -- WAY out of it. He drove himself and his family from about 400-500 miles from where we live JUST to meet up with us -- and of course, see his grandma, who also works for the company! (It's a really great place.)

    If you know me, you know I like to have fun, so what I did today to one of the higher-ups was hilarious. I speak of him, about him, but never to or with him. He's not seen me, but he knows who I am, and though he would never have been able to pick me out of a line up if he had to, I walked up to him and threw my arms around him right in front of three of the other higher ups who I had also never seen and or interacted with. I did it with a manager's nudging and encouragement - because the look on the man's face was simply -- priceless. I pretended we knew each other, and waited for him to either say "I really have NO IDEA who you are," or to pretend he did know me, and to go with it -- he went with it!! 

    When I finally introduced myself, he slapped my shoulder and said, "OK, OK, I've been told you're a prankster! I get it!" He was too much fun, and the other guys were bent over laughing about it -- Maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" moments, but we were there, and it was too much fun! Me, my boss, his boss, his boss, and his boss gathered in the same space for the group photo -- so I guess I wasn't too much out of line with my antics. Everyone has a good sense of humor there, at least everyone I've met so far.

     One of the owners of the company, a seemingly very private man, congratulated me on making "Employee of the Month" last month, and apparently, by winning it, I am now eligible for a chance to win "Employee of the Year."  The man I hugged got me back. He told me that if I win, I have to work at the office for the entire next year, so that I can use the auxiliary benefit of having a free parking space! NOPE...he may not know me, but everyone knows that this girl has no intention of putting on real pants, shoes, or makeup just to be seen! They were lucky I wore shoes today! 

    Our first pit stop at the Zoo was in the Children's Zoo, which is really a petting zoo - Laura had to get her goat fix. They used to have a little calf, a miniature horse, and even a donkey, but today it was a handful of goats and a few sheep. The goats were quite attentive. I thought we could end up taking one home with us, but alas, Laura finally let it go so others could enjoy its precious fuzzy face. We met up with about forty or fifty people I work with and had a few interesting conversations about work. We walked about 2 miles and then headed home before it became too crowded. The parking lot was a mess with all the school buses pulling in around the time we were leaving -- whew! Just in time!

Photo Credit: Me.