Sometimes the funniest things happen at work! Working for a charity has it's challenges. Not least the challenge of funding the dreams and aspirations we carry; that every child has the opportunity to become all that God designed them be and to network and work in partnerships with others to help facilitate this.
In a recent effort to generate income our CEO and senior management were involved in hosting an early evening drinks and canape reception to meet some potential partners.
It was a warm day and on arrival at the allocated space at the top of an office block in central London, the blinds were down resulting in a dimly lit room.
Our CEO set to tackling the spring loaded blinds to let in some light. Within minutes we ended up with an overextended blind, which, regardless of all effort would neither open nor close! Attempts to fix it proved futile and the whole blind, housings and all, came pinging off the window frame and landed on top of us. As the room quickly warmed up to uncomfortable heat we soon discovered why the blinds had been closed in the first place. We were relieved to discover an air conditioning unit on the wall which saved the day and us from cooking, and began the next task of shifting the large conference table to the side, to free up space for 'mingling'.
By the look of the conference room table I doubt it had ever been moved before. It had wires coming out the middle with phone and internet access points and the three sections that made up the whole, had been screwed together with metal brackets. Unfortunately we were soon to discover that one part in particular hadn't been screwed in place! As we attempted the first shifting movement one of the table legs collapsed and clanged to the floor leaving a mid section of table precariously balanced. As I glanced over at my colleague, 7 months pregnant, I realised that we would need a little extra help. Our CEO came to the rescue and I was able to capture the humour and hysteria of the moment on camera as he and the pregnant work colleague climbed beneath the table in an attempt to fix the leg back in place.
I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that things did improve. The evening was enjoyable and people seemed warm to us. I do have a final confession however -As our guests arrived I had been tasked with being door keeper and welcomer. Strategically postitioned downstairs in the reception area of the office block, I was given a set of keys to lock the door once everyone had arrived.
When all guests had been directed to the top of the building I was finally alone in the foyer and began to think about locking up. It was only then, as I contemplated the height of the door and the position of the lock at the top of the door, I realised we had a problem. As the smallest member of the team I am somewhat vertically challenged and it occured to me that I would be unable to reach the lock unless I stood on a chair......... All I can say is I hope there wasn't a security camera around.
