Helium Balloons and I DO NOT Mix!

Today was a great day. I had been working rather tirelessly for the past few weeks in preparation for an open-house at work. I saw a few 10-hour days this week (which sucks cos I don't get overtime) and I'd been a little stressed. Luckily, I had a little stress ball to help me through it all.

We had a retired sports celebrity as a draw, with sports-themed decorations, a hotdog stand (goody, me being a vegetarian and all), a popcorn stand (goody, salty popcorn with fake butter), an ice cream cart (actually, this was a goody!), cotton candy (I didn't see where that went - and I didn't see anyone eat it.. I'm perplexed), nachos, sodas and all that is associated with sports. And, we had balloons. It was kinda cool.

I was sportin' my OG gangster suit. I was sharp, I must admit. I got my picture taken with the sports celebrity (I don't want to mention names), not that it mattered to me; it was just part of the routine. What I wanted was a signed picture for a friend of mine - he loves the team this guy used to play for.

So, it was all about running around and serving potential customers and being cordial and informative. The fun didn't happen until after the event was over and after all the patrons left. Just me and the sales force and a few technicians. And those damned helium balloons.

See, helium is a weird thing. When inhaled, it causes the vocal chords to do something strange, causing the voice to change in a radical way. And me, being the childish guy I am, couldn't resist inhaling a few balloons-full.

I couldn't stop laughing and soon the whole office was just laughing. At me. I haven't had this much fun in so long. I couldn't stop laughing, making jokes, being funny, just enjoying the moment. And picture a guy in a pinstripe suit prancing (okay, skipping) around the office with a fistful of balloons. Oh joy!

There was excess food in the name of hot dogs (again, where's the love for the vegatarian!?) and our beloved admin manager, T, was taking some home. We'd already been joking around and she said something to the affect of "I'm going to take so many hotdogs home I'll have hotdogs up my ass." I nearly fell over laughing. She's a cute, smartass, sassy Filipino woman. After people got it, they started laughing too. It was just sooo funny. She started yelling at me to shut up. Of course, she thought it was funny, too. I nearly died. Later, she said she wanted 6 hot dogs. I said "you'd better get one more... for your ass!" Laughter ensued. Of course, she's in charge of the sexual harrassment policies for the office. But she's more harassing than I am in every day situations. And I admire her for that. :-) Oh.. it doesn't hurt to flirt with the temp help, either. Good times.

The lesson here folks is - never let that inner child die. Laughter is a great thing and being childish, sometimes, is too. And if there are helium balloons around, you better keep them away from me.