Friday, June 02, 2006
Culture Club
I'm now wrapping up my third week at LAF and I'm still trying to figure out their culture. Typically, I don't like to fully unleash The Dow on anybody until I understand how receptive they are. (Of course, being unreceptive to my obnoxious, boorish behavior won't protect them from me. In fact, it'll probably unleash an even worse version.)
At past jobs, I let my true personality "shine" through almost right away. That shocked and scared many people. It might even explain why I was only at CCA for 6 months and why everyone at Abbott/Hospira still cringes when they hear my name. So now I'm playing things carefully. What's weird is that the people in this office keep sending mixed signals.
The office is business casual. But apparently, there are different levels of business casual. There's polo-and-khaki business casual. Then there's slacks-and-long-sleeve-buttoned-down-shirts business casual. With dress shoes. That's the category that this office seems to fall into. I'm not all that thrilled about that. Mostly because my entire wardrobe consists of polos and khakis. And my Dr. Marten's seem to be a little informal around here. Which is a damn shame because they're SO comfortable. So, I've been slowly improving my wardrobe to fit in better around here since it seems like they're all uptight and conservative.
Well, then I'm told about all the outings they have. First, there was the comedy club outing a couple weeks ago. In two weeks, we're going to a Cubs game. So we're all leaving the office at 11:00 to grab lunch near Wrigley and get our drinks on. In July, there's a "retreat" at Lake Geneva. We're heading up there on a Thursday morning so we can get to the wine tasting by noon. It sounds like the entire retreat consists of different ways to get drunk.
Furthermore, we had a formal lunch the other day (led by our practice leader) just so the new people could get to know each other (and some of the managers). Topics of conversation? Pro wrestling, beer helmets, swears (and their use in Scrabble). The practice leader was the one to proudly boast of his beer helmet in college. And they seemed to be encouraging partying.
So it seems like this office is pretty serious during working hours, but they know how to cut loose after work. I like that mind-set. At least, I would have liked it about 2 years ago. Now that I have a wife and kid and live out in the suburbs, it's not quite as appealing to me. That said, a few years from now when I have a wife and multiple kids out in the suburbs, I'm going to want to spend as much time drinking in the city as possible.
At past jobs, I let my true personality "shine" through almost right away. That shocked and scared many people. It might even explain why I was only at CCA for 6 months and why everyone at Abbott/Hospira still cringes when they hear my name. So now I'm playing things carefully. What's weird is that the people in this office keep sending mixed signals.
The office is business casual. But apparently, there are different levels of business casual. There's polo-and-khaki business casual. Then there's slacks-and-long-sleeve-buttoned-down-shirts business casual. With dress shoes. That's the category that this office seems to fall into. I'm not all that thrilled about that. Mostly because my entire wardrobe consists of polos and khakis. And my Dr. Marten's seem to be a little informal around here. Which is a damn shame because they're SO comfortable. So, I've been slowly improving my wardrobe to fit in better around here since it seems like they're all uptight and conservative.
Well, then I'm told about all the outings they have. First, there was the comedy club outing a couple weeks ago. In two weeks, we're going to a Cubs game. So we're all leaving the office at 11:00 to grab lunch near Wrigley and get our drinks on. In July, there's a "retreat" at Lake Geneva. We're heading up there on a Thursday morning so we can get to the wine tasting by noon. It sounds like the entire retreat consists of different ways to get drunk.
Furthermore, we had a formal lunch the other day (led by our practice leader) just so the new people could get to know each other (and some of the managers). Topics of conversation? Pro wrestling, beer helmets, swears (and their use in Scrabble). The practice leader was the one to proudly boast of his beer helmet in college. And they seemed to be encouraging partying.
So it seems like this office is pretty serious during working hours, but they know how to cut loose after work. I like that mind-set. At least, I would have liked it about 2 years ago. Now that I have a wife and kid and live out in the suburbs, it's not quite as appealing to me. That said, a few years from now when I have a wife and multiple kids out in the suburbs, I'm going to want to spend as much time drinking in the city as possible.
