With a gentle smile, a quiet demeanor and some posters in her hand Elise walked into the room where the customer relations team was plugging away at that never-ending list of unread e-mails. It was a small team of five people of which three were currently seated behind their desk. One in particular, was now trying quite hard to pretend they were far too busy to notice anyone entering their office.
"Hey all, I'm here to let you know about the new year's party. It's this Thursday at 5, I hope none of you are going. It's after work hours and the big boss man is going to make a speech." She rolled her eyes as she spoke those words.
Madison already knew this information. She had seen the e-mail preceding this visit. The prospect of a party filled her with joy. The following conversation, however, did not. As inconspicuously as possible she tried to make herself a bit smaller. Like a turtle retreating into its shell, she sank further into her seat. Rolling up into a ball like a hedgehog might have been the better option, that way anyone who would try to engage with her would feel the sting.
Hoping to be done here as soon as humanly possible so she could go back to her desk and be left alone, Elise went around the room.
"Jason? You're not going right?"
To which he quickly shook his head. "Nah not me. If there's a party you'll find me at home happily avoiding the mindless chatter of people I really do not want to spend any time with outside of work whatsoever."
"Perfect! Amelia, how about you?"
"No, I won't be attending. It doesn't sound fun at all so why would I go?", said Amelia with a look of revulsion on her face.
Oh uh, Madison was next. She quickly contemplated if she could still pretend to be completely engrossed in this e-mail she just opened. The room fell silent for a short second. Probably expecting her to chime in unprompted. Well forget it, Madison had been down this road before. Saying "yes" to social events always seemed to open the door to more questions and arguments to change her mind. It was exhausting. She just enjoys socialising and taking part in things outside her comfort zone, big deal. Can't everyone just let her be?
"Madison?"
"Hm?", she tried to feign not listening in on their conversation. The "hm" was extra high pitched, so she reckons she pulled it off.
"The party, are you going or not?", Elise looked at her with an awkward smile.
"Uhm, well yeah I think I will."
And there it was. The inevitable follow up question whenever she expressed wanting to join in on a social event.
"Oh, why?"
The point of this question is obviously not to inquire about the reasons that led her to make such a bold decision out of genuine interest. No, the point was to extract all the reasons she could possibly have for wanting to go, so they can then be countered with a "strong" argument for why she shouldn't go.
"Well it is my day off on Thursday, but I don't mind coming all the way to the office for some crisps and a drink with my colleagues. You mentioned a speech by our boss as well," she nodded at Elise. "I'm sure it'll be inspiring and I'd just hate to miss out on it."
With a forced but gentle enough smile Madison turned her attention back to the computer screen, hoping to send the message that she was actually very busy and didn't wish to discuss her reasons for attending the party any further.
Alas.
"It's on your day off?", Elise started. "Well then, why on earth would you come all the way to the office just for the party?"
Madison glanced in her direction to show that she was still listening, even though she really wasn't.
Elise continued undeterred and unperturbed, "Those crisps are mostly likely stale. I saw the expiration date on the bags they're planning to serve. I swear those are the same bags left over from last year. As for the speech, we all know our boss is a pompous, out of touch, overly amicable idiot. Nothing that man says ever has any real meaning or value. It's just a lot of hot air. Which is not something you'll encounter if you get on that bike of yours to cycle all the way here. It's the middle of winter, you'll be freezing", she rambled on.
"Yes!," piped up Amelia. "It'll be a complete bore. You might have a horrible time."
My lord, will this ever end? The ferocity with which they tried to pursuade her to not go to this party baffled her. They spoke with such passion that it seemed as if they had some sort of stake in all this. As though socialising was something inherently abhorrent and no one must ever engage in it for otherwise the world as we know it would end. They made it seem as if she had somehow done herself a tremendous disservice by deciding to actually step out of her house for anything other than work or grocery shopping. Their attitude towards something as simple as an office party was highly confusing and annoying.
Madison slowly but surely felt regret bubble up inside her for giving an honest answer. She should have just said she wasn't going and be done with it.
When she thought the barrage was over, Madison shrugged a little. "Well, I don't mind it."
"But it's going to be awful!" Amelia exchanged a look with Elise and kept going, "You'll miss out on sitting at home with a warm blanket, a cup of tea and a good book. Am I right, Jason?!"
Jason nodded.
"You know I'm all about cosy blankets and tea."
"Yeah that's just not my thing," Madison said, "so I'm just gonna go and have a good time at the party."
Finally Elise made her way towards the door.
"Well," and here it came. The three most aggravating words that, without fail, ended conversations like this one, "think about it."
Madison cringed internally and resisted the urge to manically scream, "What is there to think about?!"
"You can always change your mind." Elise continued. "Just remember, it won't be any fun at all. Please stay at home."
As she hung up one of the posters on the door she softly spoke,"Maybe these will deter others."
Madison let out a soft sigh and went back to her opened, but still unread e-mail. Being an extravert is hard when you live in an introverted world.
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