As I worked for a large bank, there were frequent causes for celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baby births, ethnic holidays, seasons, “the big game”, etc. Some theme of some kind – but not for food preparation purposes, but rather for decorations and. more importantly, the excuse to have a party. (For clarification, these parties [aka luncheons] probably only happened quarterly – still frequent enough, but it wasn’t like they were weekly or something.)

With these luncheons came the food. Lots and lots of food. All different types of food. I worked in technology, and there were a number of Indian personnel present (not that there is anything wrong with it), so while there was the typical sandwiches, Chik-Fil-A (a CFA restaurant was within a stone’s throw [with a really good arm] of our office building), pizza, and the like, there was also a good amount of Indian dishes to enjoy as well.

While we can get or make most of these foods on our own after retiring, they wouldn’t be all at once. After all, where else can you get a slice of pizza, a couple boneless chicken wings, and a spoon of tikka masala and a samosa, all on the same plate, if not at a diversified office party?

As these were typically “pot luck style”, some had “an out” to just contribute money to the acquisition of CFA or pizza. But there were always enough preparing homemade yumminess that there were enough different things – and type of foods – to eat, with leftovers.

The parties usually started by about 11:30. A little early for me for lunch, but I would forego a morning snack on luncheon day. There was so much food that one could eat a plate, go back for seconds, and then a couple hours later go back for a little more.

Then there were the desserts. Some wouldn’t make entrees, but instead go for the desserts. Of course some would just buy a cake or cookies, but others would MAKE a cake or cookies (I actually usually made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies myself). So maybe have a plate or two of entree, and then a couple hours later have some dessert.

These parties will be missed. The diversification, the tastiness, the camaraderie. Oh, and the not having to be at my desk for an hour. Or two.