Surprise birthday lunch

I work in a pretty great pod. You know, the open-desk, linked rat-maze format where you have no privacy and no walls, but it’s OK because you and your co-workers share the same sense of humour and sensitivity to temperature fluctuations.

We had a birthday in our office a few weeks ago, and someone made fun of me for not getting a piece of cake. I remember yelling that I didn’t care much for cake, but if there had been a big bucket of fried chicken instead, well, it’d be a different story.

Lo and behold, my podmates surprised me today with a rousing round of “Happy Birthday” and their arms full of KFC products, including one bag with a big red bow on it.

We had a lovely picnic lunch with a bucket of chicken, fries, gravy, macaroni salad and coleslaw, which to my sadness, is no longer fluorescent green.

And even though someone stole the leftovers I was planning to eat for breakfast tomorrow from the office fridge — I’m sure there’s a special place reserved in hell for that particular transgression — it is the thoughtfulness of my podmates, and their willingness to share such greasy pleasure, that I will remember when I think back to this birthday.

So thanks for the dirty bird, Patti, Jenaya, Albert, Meegan, Tracy, Des and Dave!

Nov. 30, 2008 UPDATE: I take back my condemnation of the chicken thief. Turns out it was a miscommunication about who was taking which leftovers home. An honest mistake, and now all is right with the world again.