Hey, look what surfaced in the brain...
What a great idea, go carting company outing, marketing event for the clients from all over the country. All customer facing colleagues from the every office around the little country of ours have early morning drive to the hotel, park our company blue Skoda, drop our bags to hotel rooms and hit the bar for a quick breakfast. What a great bunch of people, all young, fun and cool, ready to party with the clients of theirs to smooch them for all the dough they support the company turnover with. Obviously we were ready to welcome our clients, business partners so that each region will have their own teams. Each team consisted from mixture of us, company slaves and our business partners. Meet and greet done, baggage dropped to the respective hotel rooms, car parked in hotel car park and here we are, being loaded to the buses as the sheep or as tourist on the vacation for sigh seeing. No one actually knows what is going to happen as all of it was kept in secret and that was the part of the PR / marketing stunt by new marketing girls at our company. Everyone in good mood, stuffed in the bus mingling like on dancefloor of 80 disco travelling through the city streets, sticking the head at the window and guessing where the heck are they taking us. Questions flu right and left but we were on the same boat aka bus as no one really knew. As the bus slowly crawling thought some so called industrial area we are realized that this is not a city break but when we saw the sign AIRPORT we were surprised. Business partners, possibly thought what the heck, are they flying us somewhere …. Did we contribute to their turnover that much, that they can afford this… ? We were more like woo hoo party is getting started. Doors opened and bus spewed us on the tarmac right at entrance to the AIRPORT. Well to be honest, we are not talking like FRANKFURT, or LONDON or something sizeable and expensive but local regional airport. Walking in, there was food everywhere as this was kind of brunch and the tables were nearly folding under the amount of the food, fruit salads, vegetable salads, pastrami, ham, chicken….sweet lord I could stay here for some time. However being polite and professionals, everyone took a plate and went around the tables once , twice ok four times but seriously that was all, I think. Then as we were ushered deeper to the area of Airport hall I saw her and never forget the sight of the tall blond girl in grey fur winter hat with ear flaps down, talking to someone and the when she turned head and our eyes met for a millisecond, time, earth and my hearth stopped when I saw that smile in those eyes and on her face. Plate in the hand and some plastic cup with coke or fanta in another, yeah it was long time ago, when plastic was widely used and no one frown upon it as no one really knew much about environment. We were greeted and then the speech commenced from the CEO and some dude actor or presenter, shortly someone who get paid shitload of money to come and tell us few rules of the day. Well short long story short, we were separated into four groups if I remember correctly and each given this cheap plastic windbreaker, each group different color, Blue, White, Green, Red and Yellow if my memory is still in order. Then simply those groups will race in go-cart relay and the fastest team will win. Obviously as we were all petrol heads, business partners the car dealers and us car finance people we loves the idea and when some dude who was master in go carting showed us what can we do and mainly that we cannot overturn, the fun began. The teams of friends turned to enemies and shouting started, your own group support the driver in the race and simultaneously booking the other drivers and teams. It is amazing what saying people invent just based on the color, honestly I do not remember it all as my mind just could not comprehend how quick all the managers become the creative artist and started slogans to annoy the competition. Some of the drivers hit the walls made of tires under the pressure, some drivers spin around in the corners like Turkish dervish dancers and some went like next F1 driver. Over all after the fuel run dry and all the noise and skid marks cooled off on the tarmac as it was cold day. Amount of tea and coffee drunk to keep us warm and hydrated as the professional drivers in go carting career do was unbelievable but still, somewhere in afternoon we did complete the race, ate the brunch and drunk the soft drinks, no alcohol was served of course. Then the buses appeared again and this time we knew where we are heading, hotel and small rest, change the attire for something more suitable for dinner, plus obviously some quick naps to recharge for all night long paaaarty. Hostility from the race was continuous at the dinner but with more funny twist as we all already had some twist if alcoholic beverages, before and during dinner. Well also the dinner was used to announce the results of the race and its winners, which in all fairness was done in funny mode with the comments on the verbal abuse, driving skills and general mode of the race at the runway. It was a great dinner and after the winners were announced and obviously booed by teams that lost, the paaaarty has started. As we were sitting and drinking, waiting for someone to embarrass themselves as first booty shakers, we loaded up on the beverages so when colleague said let’s dance I was there, first on the dance floor with no shame. Minute later drinks were finished, glassed put clanked back on tables and fun started with the Dj before the love band came on stage. Since the dance party was started I head back to table to hydrate as when one dance one needs to keep hydrate so that flexibility and consciousness are not under control. As we were sipping the drinks, colleague came down and said, she is from the agency as she pointed her head pointing the tall blond standing in the corner. That was enough for me to go there and continue the conversation, what had started with that smile but this time with actual words.
