Today was our company picnic. They had buses to take everyone to the park at 11:00 AM for a barbeque and games.
I ended up staying at work, because we had a crisis with a software release that is supposed to move into production on Monday night.
My boss (who was sympathetic to me) said that I had to attend the picnic. That I could eat and then come back.
I said that I wouldn't get back until after 2PM and I'd lose valuable time. I also told her that I refused to work on the weekend and give up time where I had plans, because I had to waste time going to a picnic I could care less about.
The choice was either I be allowed to stay and get work done, or I attend the picnic and we miss our deadline.
She really was on my side. I spoke to her boss the CIO and told him I would not be at the picnic and why. It was thus up to the executives as to whether the picnic was a higher priority than our customers.
So, I stayed at my desk which was fine. I'm not a fan of forced fun and have an extremely difficult time being sociable with people I don't feel sociable about.
(I know it must be a shock to think of me as not being sociable).
I do have a team that reports to me, but they are all young guys and were really looking forward to the picnic, games and softball game. I could have made one or more of them stay, but I couldn't see taking away from them something that they were clearly excited about, and I wasn't.
One of my guys felt really bad and was hovering over me fretting about my ability to test something. He turned 24 this week and I am the same age as his father (well, his father is technically 5 months older than me).
I finally said, "Ed, leave me alone. I was testing software before you were born and before PC's were born."
Actually, I had a nice, productive time by myself.