The Retirement Party Circuit Begins!

On Tuesday, June the 9th, Trish and I attended the board's dinner for retiring staff and guests,  held at the Holiday Inn in Kitchener. It was a big event, honouring 180 retirees from all different positions within the WRDSB. I really liked the mix of the crowd - it's not often that all the various parties involved in our students' education come together. Too bad it takes til you retire.
Many of the trustees attended, being that they were our hosts, and greeted us with corsages and warm messages of congratulations as we arrived. For most of us, it was the first in a string of retirement gigs, so there was an air of excitement and celebration in the air. We were looking forward to being treated to dinner, receiving our gifts, and generally being recognized for our full and varied careers within the board.
All was going well until our MC for the evening, our board chairperson, decided to, well, speak. She was irreverent to say the least, and downright rude if you want the blunt version. Names were mispronounced, in-jokes were shared ... it was kind of unbelievable. There were mutterings around the room that she had enjoyed a little too much wine with dinner. Perhaps. But, when the past chair took over the mic, it didn't improve much. Fewer gaffs maybe, but they were replaced by one-liners about him (dumb bald jokes, for example), rather than lovely comments about the retirees. Even the program was flawed. My name was the only thing they got right; my job, department and years of experience were all incorrect. The whole thing lacked the respect that an event such as this should have, and that retiring employees deserve. Although we laughed at it at the time (what else can you do?), many of us, including me, left feeling a little deflated. The gift was nice - a lovely Bulova mantel clock. A nice souvenir of a pretty weird start to the retirement party circuit.