Happy Hours

Tonight, for the first time in a long time, I hung out with my coworkers socially. I was a bit reluctant at first since it carried so much potential for being boring and uncomfortable like previous occasions. For example, my last work-but-not-really-work outing was to Applebees. But when the person in charge of organizing the event selected a location ey described as "a bit of a dive bar," I knew I was in.

I made an excuse early that would allow me to potentially bail after forty-five minutes if necessary. Fortunately, that proved unnecessary when, *gasp*, I had a good time.

There were eight of us, and all of us were in our 20s. We swapped annoying student anecdotes. We made inappropriate jokes that, in the wrong crowd, would get us fired. We drank. We sang. We shared our respective propensities for falling asleep at 6 and 7 at night. We agreed that our next gathering would include board games. That's right: board games! These people are great company and it looks like there is potential for outside-of-work friendships, the main obstacle being when do we find much time while working in a fairly thankless job that keeps us far too busy.

I limited myself to two drinks over the course of three and a half hours because I didn't wanted to be labeled "that guy" on our first outing, but I could see myself becoming comfortable enough to let loose even.

I have to share my "best" joke of the evening, because it perfectly captures the atmosphere of the moment. On the bar's television screen, there was a news report about a local evacuation. The teacher next to me asked, "Is that at a school or a jail?" With a funny voice and exaggerated shrugging arms, I responded, "What's the difference?!" Out of that context, it's a really crappy joke, but I swear they responded like I was a professional comedian. Ah, teacher humor. I swear I could be a teacher for years to come if it were just the after hours part.