Surprise Planning 101
Surprise planning: an organized amount of time for worry and anxiety; people begin to question your sanity due to your suspicious actions; the continuous thought of if this doesn’t work out, the worry and psychosis was all for nothing.
I LOVE surprises (hint hint; nudge nudge), but if you are now planning on surprising me, I prefer to have visitors when there are zero dishes in the sink and my fridge is full of food, so please plan accordingly.
One place that never surprises me is my hometown – I mean this in a good way. If I don’t visit for one month, two or six, not much changes. Only the useless gossip.
The one determined lady still rides her bike across the overpass. The naive man still strolls throughout the neighbourhood while having a friendly conversation with himself and the gentleman who owns the old Church still sweeps the street with a broom. I smile every time I pass them and think, who am I to judge? They partake in more physical activity than I do.
In Yippee Yah-Whoops, my paint chip was (and still is) a secret. Today, my surprise party was almost not a secret.
My recreation therapy student’s internship is officially completed. She was my favourite student for two reasons:
- She found me hilarious
- She was my first ever student
Since she was so wonderful and appreciated, I wanted to send her off the right way – a surprise potluck… because the best way to show someone you care is to stuff them with food until he/she is uncomfortable.
About one week prior to the potluck, I sent a mass email inviting the management team, recreation team and nursing team. I proof read my invitation at least 10 times, but apparently I did not proof read who I was sending the email to.
Unbeknownst to me, my student was included in the “Activity Assistants” email folder and yes, you guessed it, the email was on it’s merry way to her inbox.
Panic mode struck. I phoned technical help in Edmonton and explained the situation (I contemplated adding in tears) and asked if there was any way he could help.
He immediately laughed and said, “I see that it Ellen is included in the email list and the invite is titled “Surprise Potluck for Ellen” (I was glad an intelligent man was dealing with this crucial situation). Thankfully, he successfully ‘hacked’ into her email and removed the invite (perhaps he had experience working with Hilary Clinton).
When I shared this wreck with co-workers, family and friends, no one seemed too surprised – I wonder why that was? I would have preferred a surprise expression over the giggles, eye rolls and bows of the head.
The biggest surprise of all? She was actually surprised! Phew… success with a taste of vomit and cake.
I hope the kind tech individual still has a job.
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