Working hard for the money

In the ten years since I've been out of college, I've attended my share of crazy corporate holidays parties. There was the over-the-top, open bar and buffet at China Club, late-night karaoke at Lucky Cheng's, and the celebrity-peppered lunch at Pastis. But never have I experienced hilarity like yesterday's, in which my company brought in a flying money machine.

The money in the machine was fake, but the amount we grabbed would determine our end-of-year bonus. My company has always been generous with holiday gifts/bonuses, but I wasn't sure what, if anything, we would get this year. Frankly, given the state of the economy, I was surprised we had a holiday party at all. As it turned out, the machine didn't really work in my favor - I grabbed about half of what we've been given in recent years - but I can't really complain. It was more than I was expecting, and the laughs alone provided enough holiday cheer to last another decade.

Well, almost.