Sharkboy

Last week, I was asked to go help in a new area of my office. Even though I have been there for 3 years now, I had never worked in that particular department and wasn’t familiar with their daily routine at all. I was happy to oblige.

Things didn’t start as smooth as I would’ve liked but I did welcome the change. I spent a couple of days getting familiar with all the new duties and then was able to run with it without much assistance. Of course, every once in awhile I am faced with something new and need to ask someone a question.

This Monday morning, 1 full week into it, I turned and asked this girl with many many many more years of experience, the girl I’m actually replacing as she too will be helping in another area, where I could find a particular form. She gave me the blank look of someone who has no clue. After 2.5 seconds, I turned to the next person and asked and got an answer right away, day saved. Later on that same day, I asked this same girl with many many many more years of experience another question and this time I got a head shake as a “don’t know”… I… 2… 2.5… I asked someone else and got the answer. Lesson learned, do not ask the girl with many many many more years of experience anything. Not a good day.

On Tuesday, after the office has been running for a couple of hours, I found myself in a pickle with a demanding customer, I turned around to ask a question and the only person there is the girl with many many many more years of experience. I looked at her, she looked back, I hesitated, she didn’t blink and then I ask the question and she told me she didn’t know. Now. I’m not a patient person at all, that’s been established many years ago and I just lost my shit. I snapped. I walked closer to her and said: “Seriously, you must remember the specific duties of the job you were doing last week? There’s no way I’ll believe that this has never happened in all the years you’ve been here. You were doing THIS LAST WEEK?!?!?!?”. I was met with a blank stare. I think I actually spooked her.

She didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day but was quick to mention loudly that I wasn’t her boss, nor didn’t need anyone’s permission to do anything when another co-worker suggested she just told me where they were going in case someone asked while preparing to go on the afternoon break. I simply replied that it was a good thing I wasn’t her boss.

This morning, she walked in last. I was in a really good mood and joking around. She said good morning to certain people, not me, and after a half hour of seeing the good mood of everybody else in the room, interacting joyously with each other, not including her, “Little-Miss-Sunshine” simply picked up her belongings and left without a word. That was the last I saw of her.

Maybe she went to load up on glucose which helps improve memory for those inflicted with memory hiccups.

Last week I stopped being 45yrs old… I added one more year.

I’m not one to make a big deal for my birthday anymore although I was very lucky that my parents did when I was young and even luckier that I always got what I asked for… until I asked for a car or a house. Bastards!

In my late 20′s and early 30′s I decided that one day to celebrate wasn’t enough, so I decided to start the ever popular Birthday Week, when I did something special for 7 nights in a row, either a fun dinner out, a show, a movie, an evening with friends, whatever it was, I tried and make it special.

And then when I turned 35, I found out I that I REALLY hated birthday surprises when some of my staff got together and arranged an evening at Medieval Times Show and Dinner. I was brought there under false pretenses a week before the big day and instead of feeling happiness when I saw all these people I knew and liked, I just got mad when they all screamed “surprise” in unisson… I can’t explain it really. I did apologize after, but I guess since I don’t have much love for Medieval Times AND that I was lied to, I was just caught off-guard and all I wanted was to go home… But I stayed, I regain composure, I eventually smiled and laughed, went on stage and got knighted and at the end of the evening, I had had a good time because I was surrounded with friends. It really was that night I realized I don’t like to be the centre of attention.

A few years later, on that special date, I arranged a dinner out at this Shark themed restaurant that had just opened in the city. It was both fine dining on the top floor and bar with pool tables in the lower level, the whole thing was designed to make you feel like you were underwater and they had all these amazing “stuffed” sharks all over the place. We invited some friends we knew from the gay choir we belonged to at the time and I was expecting a nice fun evening with laughs… What I got was tons of moaning because the restaurant wasn’t situated right smack in the middle of gayville. They had to drive or take the subway to get there. Well, that killed the mood. It was also that night I realized that I do not like to open gifts with people watching. It’s one thing in family at Christmas time but totally different when a whole bunch of strangers stop doing what they are doing to watch you…

I have since sort of stopped celebrating my birthday. I mean DR and I will do something, we might have dinner out with his dad, some friends, but there is a definite rule of no cards, no gifts, no spectacle. I much prefer treating it like it’s just another day but I’m with people I really like. Also, to avoid any annoyances at work, I have been taking that day off for the last few years.

3 years ago, I had a stroke of genius, we flew to Disney World for my birthday. One couldn’t ask for a better gift. It was just amazing. No cake, no gifts, no spectacles, just DR and I with Mickey and his pals… YEH.

Last year, we did it again, this time with my sister and my nephew. Can’t beat this at all. Loved ones AND Mickey and his pals. I have the BEST photo album from that trip. Makes me laugh and giggle every time I take a second to look at its pages.

I have to admit that this year was also perfect. Even without a Disney trip. I got good wishes from every one that matters the most. I had a remarkable day with DR who also booked the day off to be with me and we spent the morning at the Harry Potter Exhibition that’s in town for the Summer. We had the whole exhibit to ourselves as we went first thing in the morning and all the school groups that were there weren’t going for the extra $$$ to see the Harry show. We took our time and really took it in. At the gift shop, I had to buy this wand as he is my favourite character from the book series:

Snape’s magic wand

After that, we bummed around in the city after that and had dinner with Da, who brought me a tupperware full of the amazing date squares he bakes to perfection and our friends Grove Of Blue and Fortress Of Solitude.

That evening, I got home to a birthday card from my mom and one from my sister, one with money, the other one with the gift of books (Mr Ripley Pearson, I’ve purchased a few more of your novels). There was also the most amazing shark card ever from CathyK, that same very nice lady we met on the cruise in February, who took the time to scour my website to find out when the big day was… athankyou CK! I also got some nice emails from people I had not heard from in awhile. I did feel like it was a very special day.

And then there was the Disney stuff… When DR asked what I wanted, I used the same old line that I didn’t need anything… but then I thought of something I’d really really really like but would probably never buy for myself: a D23 membership, the perfect gift for the Disney fan in your family. The first part of it has already arrived:

My very own D23 membership card

I’m planning the exact same for next year… unless we throw a Disney World trip spin on it.. ahah.