I didn't tell you the worst part!

[christie1111]

I have to go to a course for work next week in NJ. All company employees, 2 of which I know from my location.

In the kick-off teleconference last week....

Spoiler

They told us to bring our bathing suits

[MarleysGh0st]

Does your company blend its body wash in giant pools, for which swimming lessons are an essential safety precaution?

[Beebs52]

Surely you're kidding?!?!?

[mrkelley23]

Surely you're kidding?!?!?

No, she's not.

And don't call her surely.

I'm betting it's team-building exercises. They're all the rage now on corporate retreats.

Shine on, Christie!

[MarleysGh0st]

Well, to think non-sarcastically for a moment, maybe they're just saying that the hotel has a great indoor pool and that everyone might enjoy it.

[christie1111]

Surely you're kidding?!?!?

No, she's not.

And don't call her surely.

I'm betting it's team-building exercises. They're all the rage now on corporate retreats.

Shine on, Christie!

Teach got it right. Some team building thing. They did say if you had any issues to contact them individually.

If it was just swimming I would be okay, but if it is standing around in a bathing suit with the possibility of getting wet, not so much.

Not looking forward to this piece of 'team building'.

[AlphaDummy]

I would be more worried if the pool was filled with Jello. Just sayin'.

[littlebeast13]

I would be more worried if the pool was filled with Jello. Just sayin'.

Or mud....

lb13

[christie1111]

Found it!

Who is the blond?

[littlebeast13]

Found it!

Who is the blond?

How soon they forget....



Without consulting the archive, I believe the anniversary of this avatar is sometime this week....

lb13

[christie1111]

Found it!

Who is the blond?

How soon they forget....



Without consulting the archive, I believe the anniversary of this avatar is sometime this week....

lb13

OMG!

I loved that avatar! It makes this one even funnier. And I liked it before!

Thanks LB!

[MarleysGh0st]

I would be more worried if the pool was filled with Jello. Just sayin'.

Or mud....

lb13

Now we're talking!

[silvercamaro]

Surely you're kidding?!?!?

No, she's not.

And don't call her surely.

I'm betting it's team-building exercises. They're all the rage now on corporate retreats.

Shine on, Christie!

Teach got it right. Some team building thing. They did say if you had any issues to contact them individually.

If it was just swimming I would be okay, but if it is standing around in a bathing suit with the possibility of getting wet, not so much.

Not looking forward to this piece of 'team building'.

If it were me, I'd be on the phone first thing Monday morning to report my "issues" with the bathing suit part of the "fun." I'd claim modesty, religion, refusal to submit to my own personal embarrassment, or suggest that a bathing suit is an inappropriate thing to wear around co-workers whom you have had to counsel about improper work wear in the past. Do you have any female Islamic colleagues? If so, you could couch your objections in terms of consideration for the modesty demanded by their religion. Try whatever you think might work. If they get enough objections, they will think of an alternative team-building exercise.

You might even ask first if the exercise will involve swimming or simply getting wet. If it's the latter, you may be able to get away with wearing a beach cover-up over shorts or your swimsuit, if that would ease some of your concerns. I'm guessing that whoever dreamed up this part of the events is approximately 25 years old, whether male or female.

If I were part of your work group, I would have screamed before the end of last Friday. I haven't worn a bathing suit in public for many years, and the world is a happier place as a result.

[SportsFan68]

I would be more worried if the pool was filled with Jello. Just sayin'.

Or mud....

lb13

That is a horrible avatar. Ugh! It will not win.

[christie1111]

No, she's not.

And don't call her surely.

I'm betting it's team-building exercises. They're all the rage now on corporate retreats.

Shine on, Christie!

Teach got it right. Some team building thing. They did say if you had any issues to contact them individually.

If it was just swimming I would be okay, but if it is standing around in a bathing suit with the possibility of getting wet, not so much.

Not looking forward to this piece of 'team building'.

If it were me, I'd be on the phone first thing Monday morning to report my "issues" with the bathing suit part of the "fun." I'd claim modesty, religion, refusal to submit to my own personal embarrassment, or suggest that a bathing suit is an inappropriate thing to wear around co-workers whom you have had to counsel about improper work wear in the past. Do you have any female Islamic colleagues? If so, you could couch your objections in terms of consideration for the modesty demanded by their religion. Try whatever you think might work. If they get enough objections, they will think of an alternative team-building exercise.

You might even ask first if the exercise will involve swimming or simply getting wet. If it's the latter, you may be able to get away with wearing a beach cover-up over shorts or your swimsuit, if that would ease some of your concerns. I'm guessing that whoever dreamed up this part of the events is approximately 25 years old, whether male or female.

If I were part of your work group, I would have screamed before the end of last Friday. I haven't worn a bathing suit in public for many years, and the world is a happier place as a result.

Dearest SilverCamaro,

This is one of the many reasons I love you!

MWAH!

Christie1111

[christie1111]

Well, I found out what happens. You do have to actually go into a swimming pool and will very likely get very wet.

Apparently it involves building some kind of boat which you then have to swap with another team. Then each of the team members has to get in the boat and take it for a lap across the pool.

So not only do I have to wear a bathing suit in front of work colleages I also have to to haul myself into some kind of home made boat and propel it across a pool.

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

[jarnon]

Sounds like the pilot for Survivor: New Jersey.

[Beebs52]

Seriously I think this team building bullshit has gotten totally out of hand. Anytime I've been involved in it, and my colleagues, and my husband and his colleagues, everyone disses it. I guess that's how you build the team...

This swimsuit thing is preposterous and horrible and I would be livid.

[silvercamaro]

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

Let us count the ways --to the depth and breadth and height your imagination can reach, when feeling out of sight....

But, if you can't get out of it, hold your head high, and help build the best damn boat such team-building exercises ever have created. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, yada, yada, yada. With any luck, your team's boat will sink promptly anyway, and you can swim back to the side of the pool with only your head above the water.

Or buy a burqini.

[DevilKitty100]

Well, I found out what happens. You do have to actually go into a swimming pool and will very likely get very wet.

Apparently it involves building some kind of boat which you then have to swap with another team. Then each of the team members has to get in the boat and take it for a lap across the pool.

So not only do I have to wear a bathing suit in front of work colleages I also have to to haul myself into some kind of home made boat and propel it across a pool.

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

I don't have much experience of having worked in corporate America........with the exception of the three years that I did it, I disliked it intensely. This situation is beyond absurd if not downright harrassment. Anything that would require degrees of undress strips individuals of far more than their clothes. If the swimsuit were optional that would be one thing, but requiring it??? You have got to be kidding! I would be HR's worst nightmare if that were me. And I wouldn't be all namby-pamby about it trying to make excuses, either.

[minimetoo26]

Okay, so I live in a beach town and have pools and wear a bathing suit in public even though my leg veins are unattractive but: I get claustrophobic if I get dumped in the middle of a pool. I don't like floating on a raft because of the risk of capsizing. I need to be in control of my distance from the edge, even in the shallow end! I would not participate in an exercise such as the one you described.

I suck it up and deal with the acrophobia when I go hiking with my family because I know I'm safe even if my brain doesn't agree with me. But if I got dumped in a pool there's a chance my brain would take over and I'd flounder and swallow water and likely go under and have to be pulled out. Tell them mini says that's the dumbest thing she ever heard of and her claustrophobia forbids you to play along.

[a1mamacat]

Well, I found out what happens. You do have to actually go into a swimming pool and will very likely get very wet.

Apparently it involves building some kind of boat which you then have to swap with another team. Then each of the team members has to get in the boat and take it for a lap across the pool.

So not only do I have to wear a bathing suit in front of work colleages I also have to to haul myself into some kind of home made boat and propel it across a pool.

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

I don't have much experience of having worked in corporate America........with the exception of the three years that I did it, I disliked it intensely. This situation is beyond absurd if not downright harrassment. Anything that would require degrees of undress strips individuals of far more than their clothes. If the swimsuit were optional that would be one thing, but requiring it??? You have got to be kidding! I would be HR's worst nightmare if that were me. And I wouldn't be all namby-pamby about it trying to make excuses, either.

not to mention that there will also be probably paunchy old men in Speedos in the group

[DevilKitty100]

Well, I found out what happens. You do have to actually go into a swimming pool and will very likely get very wet.

Apparently it involves building some kind of boat which you then have to swap with another team. Then each of the team members has to get in the boat and take it for a lap across the pool.

So not only do I have to wear a bathing suit in front of work colleages I also have to to haul myself into some kind of home made boat and propel it across a pool.

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

I don't have much experience of having worked in corporate America........with the exception of the three years that I did it, I disliked it intensely. This situation is beyond absurd if not downright harrassment. Anything that would require degrees of undress strips individuals of far more than their clothes. If the swimsuit were optional that would be one thing, but requiring it??? You have got to be kidding! I would be HR's worst nightmare if that were me. And I wouldn't be all namby-pamby about it trying to make excuses, either.

not to mention that there will also be probably paunchy old men in Speedos in the group

LOL ......... Crazy old geezers!!! And they would, too........and think they were freaking hot. Ewwwwwwww.......

[Catfish]

Well, I found out what happens. You do have to actually go into a swimming pool and will very likely get very wet.

Apparently it involves building some kind of boat which you then have to swap with another team. Then each of the team members has to get in the boat and take it for a lap across the pool.

So not only do I have to wear a bathing suit in front of work colleages I also have to to haul myself into some kind of home made boat and propel it across a pool.

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

And throughout the process they photograph all of you for the everyone is beautiful Dove campaign. There damn well better be party drinks poolside. And someone waiting at the top of the pool ladder to wrap each participant in a warmed plushy bathrobe.

[christie1111]

How many ways could this be potentially embarrassing?

Let us count the ways --to the depth and breadth and height your imagination can reach, when feeling out of sight....

But, if you can't get out of it, hold your head high, and help build the best damn boat such team-building exercises ever have created. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, yada, yada, yada. With any luck, your team's boat will sink promptly anyway, and you can swim back to the side of the pool with only your head above the water.

Or buy a burqini.

I actually posted this situation over on Facebook to PeaBabe. She gave a similar response in complete PeaBabe fashion. A) What idiot came up with this plan? B) Either call and complain and see if it can me changed or be the best team partner and win.