Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Obama cupcakes and office antics

One reason I love my neighborhood--I can walk a few blocks and get this:



(Trophy Cupcakes)

And before you ask, they were not offering cupcakes featuring the other candidate's likeness. But then I also saw someone (not in the cupcake shop) in a shirt that says "Republicans Suck." Now, that's not really good form. This is Nora Bee and I did not approve that message. Just so you know the tone of where I live, since reading blogs around and about I am reminded that it's not like this everywhere. And that's good. We get fined for not composting here. Or something like that.

A chat with a good friend and former coworker reminded me of a story that I love to tell. And it didn't even happen to me! Getting warmed up for holiday parties where I pretend to be an EXTROVERT and sparkle to my husband's coworkers and their wives, wowing them with my intimate knowledge of eye-rolling corporate culture, waving my champagne flute (that's what they all drink) for emphasis without spilling it. They won't see me coming--I'll blind them first with my mommyness and Dansko clogs and then I'll be all let me tell you a tale of middle management gone bad. And then they'll be all wha..? You had a JOB?

So the tale goes something like this. My friend keeps a really neat desk. Plant, candy dish, and I mean a seriously clean desk. Everything is in a file, and when it's time to work on it she takes out the relevant file, works on it, and then puts it away. There are never more than ten emails in her inbox. She's awesome. And she works her tail off. So you think her manager would parade her and her--I don't know, her WORK?--around to all the visiting fancies, right? The fancies might even think that my friend had cleaned her desk for them. They would be wrong, but they might think that. And that would be cool. Because next door they would see my very unimpressive amount of work and piles of papers that might just have a grilled cheese sandwich buried in them (like I could ever leave one unfinished). But no...her manager came by her office and asked her to mess things up a little bit so she looked "busier." She was afraid that the fancies would think my friend wasn't working hard enough. Ha! Ha!

Am I ready for the sparkly holiday small talk circuit or what?

18 comments:

Irene said...

I love the Obama cupcake, did you actually eat it? I hope you can get more of them and save one for posterity. Of course, it would go all moldy, but hey, you could keep it in the freezer. As a Dutch woman, I know I will never have a cupcake with Obama on it, I'm just envious. It is such a unique item. Lucky you.

Melissa said...

Sadly, my area is the complete opposite of you. Sigh...

Was it a good cupcake?

smalltownme said...

I love that cupcake, but it's too great to eat!

When I had an office job, as hard as I worked, the desk was never clean. Of course, since I was doing the work of 3 people at the end, there was no possibility of ever finishing it. That's why I quit.

Rebekah said...

I am clearly the "busiest" worker around. I'm glad you have a picture of the cupcake. I was so excited I took a picture of my mail-in ballot before I sent it in. Because? Historic!

The Ubran Poetess said...

I was at Trophy just yesterday. We had a "team building" activity yesterday evening. The idea was to carve pumpkins, but it became "Noelle will now draw with a Sharpie on one communal pumpkin." We just realized the night would be too long and messy if we actually started carving pumpkins after we closed at 6.

But I digress - the highlight of the event was a dozen cupcakes from Trophy shared by about 6 of us. We cut all the beautiful creations into quarters and over-indulged. Yummy.

Love, love, love your description of "blinding them with your mommyness." That whole paragraph = golden.

Leah Perlingieri said...

It's true Danskos are, like, the official "Shoe of Moms." And, I concur--that paragraph was divine.

The cupcake is cute and all, but the first thing I thought of was Red #40 and Blue #2...gawd, I am such a hippie.

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

I just had a long conversation with my mother-in-law, who is as bleeding-heart liberal as they come, about why she's VOTING FOR MCCAIN. She says she just doesn't trust Obama. So before you go thinkin' the Dems are a shoe-in ... they're not! Every vote still counts : )

ps I love the cupcakes. But isn't it, like, blasphemous to actually eat them?

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Just thinking about her desk makes me happy.

Anonymous said...

I was once asked to tidy up my desk area for the fancies, and I told my boss if i did that it would take me a week to recover and find anything again. My mess has a method.

Fined for not composting! I snorted my coffee on that. (I wish it was a law everywhere!!)

Angie McCullagh said...

Love those cupcakes. Though I can't imagine actually biting into Obama.

Jen's Farmily said...

Wow. Most companies want areas to be spotless. A certain J@p@nese auto company I worked for had spots taped out on the desk to where you phone should be, your family picture, your stapler, and your computer. Otherwise, your desk should be clean.

Crazy.

shrink on the couch said...

I'm trying to brush up on my sparkle, too. May I borrow that story? It's got that Dilbert appeal (the fancies would LUV my desk!)

You've got such a great writer's knack, btw. I always chuckle & smirk throughout. Glad I found your blog (or you found mine, or whatever).

Jay Ferris said...

Sweet. I guess this makes me the busiest guy at my work, as well as enemy of the rain forests.

the new girl said...

What a serious expression for a cupcake.

It's well--it's a thoughtful cupcake.

Pensive, even.

Vanessa said...

Great cupcake, even better that they only had the "correct" candidate cupcakes. Also? Danskos aren't just for Moms. I rock my Danskos every chance I get!

Anonymous said...

Oh nice cupcake. I want one, baaaad. I think I might have a thing for cake art. This troubles me.

Coffeegrljapan said...

I miss Seattle cupcakes- Trophy and Verite (yum!). Thanks for sharing!! Also, I love the idea that my messy workspace = productivity!

Melissa said...

-I want a cupcake.

Maybe I'll *make* cupcakes...