I feel this is the better place for me to post this that the up boards.
Because Eemz asked ... Here?s how the Christmas party for my wife?s job went ?
The sort version: We had a blast!
Longer: My wife works at a hair salon and had already told the owners and her coworkers about me, they in turn told their spouses. This would be the FIRST TIME I was to meet any of them in any ?mode?. I was told that they were looking forward to meet me. The plan was that the whole group of us would go to a hatchet throwing place to throw hatchets, have a couple of drinks and some snacks, then off to a more upscale place for dinner. So, with trepidation, I decided to go as myself. No ?man disguise?. Also, I get a bit of a special thrill if I am meeting a person for the first time as ?me?.
In the lead up I was nervous. I had a strong feeling that the woman from the salon would be just fine, but I was a little more nervous about meeting husbands and reactions from the general public. Naturally, I figured 99% of the people would be neutral, but still, one nasty comment could ruin the night for my wife. And, my wife?s job being in the beauty industry, I figured I?d had to get the details together as best as I could manage if I were to blend. (as for ?passing?, I don?t think I?m fooling anyone! Lol). The day before, my wife made some suggestions and lent me a purse she thought would work, and harped on me again about the state of my eyebrows, lol! Yes, I know they?re a mess! She suggested to stop by the salon and have one of the girls clean them up. I flatly refused, because I wanted to first time for them to meet me to be at the party. So, after she got home from work, she attacked my eyebrows with tweezers and made sure they were appropriately thinned! I love her, she did an excellent job!
We had just a bit of relax time before finishing getting dolled up and we were off.
Walking into the lobby at the hatchet place was just fine. Fairly crowed, no one gave me any glares (nor was I trying to catch anyone glaring!). We met up with her work crew and spouses almost immediately and they were genuinely warm and welcoming right off the bat. Didn?t feel forced, didn?t feel rehearsed, just warm ?hellos? and ?its so good to meet you!? and hugs/handshakes and all. We were escorted back to our area and had a great time throwing hatchets. I quickly discovered that I am terrible at throwing hatchets. No matter, so were most of us. Planting a bullseye was a rarity. At one point, I was next to one of the owner?s husbands, we were both throwing horribly, and I commented that I can?t understand why I?m so bad at this. I used to be a great shot with (the sorts of things one becomes a great shot with in their military training) back when I was in the USAF. Turned out he also had done a hitch in the USAF and we were chatting about it. My wife came over and since we were swapping past stories, she said things like ?oh he used to do this? or ?He once did that? and the like. But talking about anything I was now doing in the present my wife would say ?She does X, or Y?. The poor man became vaguely confused and said ?Wait ? don?t mess me up here ?? and before he could go on, we told him NOT to worry about pronouns one way or the other, everything was a-okay.
More chit chat, more hatchet throwing, a drink or two, and everyone was feeling good. It was MUCH MUCH more about the party and having a good time than anything else and my wife was chatting and laughing hither and fore as she pleased. Exactly as I wanted!
The people at the next target space over would occasionally do a double take in my direction, but I noticed no vehemence.
So, as we drove from the Hatchet place to the restaurant, my wife took the opportunity to proudly tell me that several of her coworkers/spouses had come to her and ? not knowing what to expect on meeting me ? intimated to her words to the affect of ?Oh my god, she?s beautiful!? and I felt so good about that!
Once at the restaurant, we discovered that a private room was reserved, but even so, I didn?t notice any awkward glances. The wait staff was all ?miss? this and ?ma?am? that like utter professionals.
Dinner, more drinks, and much engagement in New Jersey?s favorite pass time ? busting each other?s chops. The husband of the other owner was sitting across from us and several of us were commenting how he resembled a particular actor. He told us about a recent experience in the supermarket where a stranger even commented to him about it. I turned to my wife and said to more to her than anyone else, but in general earshot: ?Do you remember who I was compared to by a stranger one day in the market?? ?No, who?? she said. ?Santa Claus!? I reminded her! Lol. The gentleman across the table got a real quizzical look on his face and then it dawned on him. ?Oh, wait, you had a beard???? Again, I am NOT ?passable? but apparently feminine enough where this person had a momentarily difficult time processing that it might be possible for me to have a beard! I?ll call that a win, lol!
Finally came the ?secret santa? gift exchange, and since the womenfolk were all in the salon industry, and would appreciate more ?feminine? gifts while the menfolk would not, it had been pre-decided that the eight women in attendance (including me!) would contribute between themselves, and the four men (NOT including me) would also thus exchange.
Every dang ?male? gift was a bottle of something. Every dang ?female? gift was some sort of fuzzy blanket and/or lotions and scented candles. Good turn out! I love my new fuzzy blanket and would have little use for a bottle of something!
After a LONG night, was time to depart and the usual excruciatingly long array of goodbyes, kisses, etc. ensued. The gentleman with whom I swapped USAF stories with approached my wife and gave her a warm but modest hug and a peck on the cheek. He approached me, extended his hand, got momentarily awkward within himself, retracted his hand, and came in closer for the same modest hug and peck on the cheek. Lol, such a sweetheart.
Well, that?s about as short as I can make the story. Thank you for reading!
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The source of the random question marks: I typed this out in 'word' because it is a longer story and I didn't want a computer flaw to eat it while half typed, then I copied and pasted it here. For some reason it translates apostrophes and quotation marks into question marks. Hope this isn't too distracting!
