Getting to Know My Colleagues

I've been meaning to post about this for a week or so, so just pretend that it happened today.

As part of my work assignment, I periodically get invited to global employee functions. These boozefests social activities are designed to provide us with an opportunity to get to know our fellow expat colleagues (as if many of us don't already see each other far too much). Usually, these nights are pretty low key.

Last week, however, I met a woman at one of these events who made it well worth it. No, not like that. (Don't worry family, I am still desperately looking for the right girl. And when I do, I promise to get married well before I have the chance to change my mind.) Anyway, this woman made my night. We talked on and off throughout the evening as I made my rounds to see if anyone interesting had showed up. As usual, no such luck. Or at least that's what I thought.

The woman (her name escapes me) is here in London from Australia, and seemed a bit uncomfortable with meeting so many new people at a work event. Perhaps because of this, I saw her hitting the G&Ts pretty hard early in the night. Given that I am considerate, and well, into peer pressure, I made sure to always bring her another one when ordering from the bar. As the night wore on, she became a bit more comfortable and talkative, and shared with a small group of us that she had quit smoking a few months before coming over to London. She wasn't a chain smoker, having just a few a day. However, in order to quit, she starting chewing Nicorette gum.

So none of that is particularly funny. But the next part is. After kicking the habit, she realized she had actually become addicted to Nicorette gum. Now, she chews over 15 pieces of Nicorette a day and has family and friends smuggle it over from Australia (I guess you can't get it here) when they visit. She even switched to the unflavored kind to try to quit (the gum), but realized she actually likes the (un)flavor even more. What?!

She asked us not to tell anyone, but at that point in the night I don't think anything was really binding. I haven't seen her in the building yet, but am obviously really looking forward to it. $20 says she'll be chewing gum.