Beach Scenes and Bosses and CEO's-- OH MY!

Well, as many of you know, I was a little uneasy about how today would turn out, but it was actually pretty interesting so I figured I'd tell you about it!

See, it all started with the floor summer decorating contest at work. And, well, I have a team of 11 salespeople, and if you know salespeople, they are quite the competitive bunch! So, we decided we were going to have some fun with the contest, and, well, anything worth doing is worth doing well. So, off we went. I thought it was pretty funny anyway-- when our director came by and asked us what the prize was we all looked at each other confused like ummm we don't know! We're in sales. it's just all about pride and winning :)

Well, I would just like to say that our section was by FAR the best if I do say so myself. seriously. we take decorating to a whole new level. Here's a pic just to give you an idea-- our trademark is taking pictures of people and then including them in our decorating. Here's the wall outside our section. I don't know how much you can see, but we did have some fun making my 400-pound biker boss into a mermaid... :Þ also included are my director (the lifeguard), our secretary (a hula dancer) and various other managers and VIP's. like I said-- we have WAAAAY too much fun. we even made a 5 foot detailed cutout of our company mascot as a mermaid! (my fave part, but not really post-able.) otherwise, we just had stuff EVERYWHERE including little scenes here and there all set on a COMPLETELY blue backdrop of desks. it was cool. I mean really-- what other company (or even internal department!) could I possibly work for that would be this much fun? :)

So anyway-- we are putting all of this up yesterday when our secretary comes running over with a warning-- our CEO, who has a summer home in VA Beach, is making a surprise visit tomorrow and may be around, so keep everything clean, organized, and appropriate. kind of hard when our section is already a war zone, but we work it out. And then I find out I am one of 3 that will be in the room representing sales when he monitors our teams. I am also told he is pissed at us for some reason and our job is to diffuse him! greeeeeat. a compliment to be picked to be there, but a very 'ummmm thanks?' sort of moment :)

but anyway, all is okay when he gets there this morning. we are listening to calls, all is fine. then CEO gets a call on his cell. his mother is ill, so he takes it. we all just chill for awhile. BUT, I notice when he comes back in he has a rice krispy treat. hmmm... pregnant girl in my section brought in rice krispy treats. odd. but, didn't think much of it til the next time he left. I kept seeing people coming in with rice krispy treats, and I wanted to get one before they were gone! so, I went to my desk, and well... there is the CEO of my 20,000+ person company chilling (of all places) at MY desk on the phone!!!!!!! WTF?! ahhhh! I am freaking! (seriously! he was there for at least like 20 minutes!)

I also noticed my team must have been freaking, because an unusual amount of them all seemed to be on break at the same time :) They told me later that yes, they were shaking and stressing and all sorts of stuff. they have heard the stories of when he hears bad calls. lol. well, almost all were stressing-- the one that gave him the rice krispy treat apparently thought NOTHING of getting up and parading around in his very contest-appropriate but NOT dress code-appropriate board shorts. once again, greeeeat.

so, all ends up okay. I hear stories later of Mr. CEO checking out my pictures (one happens to be of me and him when he gave me a shirt a few years back) and also noticing my random Jon Passavant ad (oops. but c'mon how could I not post that and tell the story of the 2 hours I once spent smooshed up against him in a car?!) :) I have a lot of crap at my desk too. I mean really-- it's my home away from home so I have to put a little bit of me into it! so, now I'm sure he'll remember my face and maybe even my name... I'm just not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing!

but anyway-- he left, things returned to normal, and hopefully all is right with the world. and I have decided not to tell the boss story from the subject line, because, well, it's not even worth it. let's just say though that there are some people at work that make me SO mad! you have to give respect to get it. so, as one last thing before I get to bed (damn super early MSF course!), I'll post the newest addition to the "people who have had their picture taken in the well-traveled coconut bra" club. Here's my friend Andrea during all the insanity today :)

Stay tuned for the after-MSF end of the weekend post: Lisa the Biker! hehehehe. now this is going to be trouble :Þ