Work Grievances in New Beginnings

Work last week was aggravating. Last year, the president of my business unit decided to have a beginning of the year meeting at a local resort. I say local, but the resort was about two hours north of the office. That’s where I was Monday through Wednesday afternoon.

The event was two days of meetings (Monday afternoon, all of Tuesday, and Wednesday morning) complete with ridiculous group projects. I thought those corporate team building retreats were the stuff of 90s sitcoms, too absurd to exist in real life, but no. They are very, very real. In truth, they weren’t that bad. Tuesday morning, we were assigned into groups, and each group had to build an art project using the minerals our company mines. One of my team mates jokingly suggested we use the clay and other items to make a bust of Doug, the president. I didn’t let the idea stop at a joke. I encouraged us to do it, not just because I wanted to get the exercise over and done with, but because I suspected it would turn out laughably bad, and the end result would be the only vengeance I could have on the president for making us do this.

The next team building exercise was to build a model bridge using office supplies (paper, tape, paper clips, etc.), each bridge built to Doug’s specifications for that particular group. There were other parts of the project, like each group only had one supply. My group had paper, for example, and each group had to get supplies from the other groups by trading or purchasing. We were also supposed to try and upsale Doug on an additional feature. Somehow, I was able to blend into the background of my group, assisting others, but not having to expend much emotional energy being exhausted by how much I’d rather just be back at the office doing my actual job.

Tuesday afternoon, we had to participate in another team building exercise by participating in one of the resort’s recreation activities. We had a choice of horseback riding, a winery tour, or golf. Yeah, I went back to my room to read. I also watched a couple of episodes of bones and ran on the elliptical in the hotel’s gym. I had reached my limit for the day. Even that evening, my company had organized a casino night, which I opted out of. I don’t think anyone noticed my absence, thankfully. I don’t consider myself antisocial, but I was more in the mood to experience the adventure of a steam punk fighter pilot with his beautiful sorceress girlfriend than talk to a bunch peons, a word I use in the most affectionate sense possible.

Wednesday’s exercises weren’t as bad. The first one consisted of getting into groups of coworkers we weren’t familiar with, and get to know them. The other was a picture puzzle, in which each group member was given a picture. Each person could only describe (not show) his or her picture to the rest of the group, and we had to figure out which order the pictures were to be arranged in. It was all painless, especially compared to the assignments of the previous day.

I suppose I shouldn’t compain since everything I had to do was a meager task in order to enjoy staying in a swanky hotel and enjoy some nice meals, but I’d really rather just be home. Maybe I’m just cranky because my body is hurting. When I went to the gym at the hotel, I tried to run on the treadmill before switching to the elliptical. I thought my calf muscle had healed up, but I think I pulled it again. It’s felt better today, even if it is still a little tight and tender. I wonder how long need to rest it before I can exercise like I used to. Also, I think I have medial epicondylitus in my right arm, and a pulled muscle in my left shoulder.

One of the frustrating changes I’ve discovered about adulthood is how you can’t rest when you’re hurt like you did as a child or teenager. Even if you had to go to school with a busted arm, you at least got to come home mid afternoon, and you could do your homework horizontal on the couch as long as you had a clipboard or some hard surface to write on. Those days are over. Now, I have to hobble around the office with aching limbs until the evening arrives. I hope my shoulder feels better tomorrow. As it is, just sitting upright is painful. I really wish I could just lay in bed all day.