Company Going Away Dinner

Last night I went to a going away dinner for our local center director/vice president. I like to attend as many company lunches/dinners as I can. It gives me an opportunity to meet fellow employees and talk to people who I rarely see, since I don't work at the company office. I kind of regretted signing up for this event, since I figured that there would be nothing but old, upper-level managers at this event. That part was true. However, I met our new center director, and several other managers saw me there, so that made me look good. There were enough people there that I knew that I didn't feel completely out of place, even though I was the youngest person there, even at 37 years of age. There were about 40 people at this dinner, and I expected more since it was for a vice president. This turned out to be a plus, since everyone was given the cordless mircophone to give the guest of honor, Steve, a going away message. The man next to me had the best comment. He said, "If I had known I was going to speak I'd wouldn't have shown up." Such honesty! The man before me said, "I have learned that it is best to keep your speech funny and short, and since I am not funny, I'm done." It took almost a half hour for everyone to deliver their messages to Steve. After all was said and done, I said my good-by to him and snuck out around 9:30.