Watching the Germany-Argentina match with my bosses was surprisingly less traumatising than I thought it would be. Given the fact that I was openly supporting Argentina while my bosses were supporting Germany ('bad career move,' my friend noted), and my tendency to turn incredibly red and get a little giggly after a couple of drinks (although I can drink quite a fair bit before I've reached the wasted stage), I was a little worried about the possibility about my having to clear out my desk on Monday morning.

I was initially rather reluctant to join them for the match as I was exhausted, having been working late the last two weeks, not to mention the date the night before, but after a fellow colleague urged me to go, telling me that invitations from management to join them for the game are very very rare. So in the end, I went home, changed into something more casual, more me, but still more conservative than my clubbing clothes and joined them at the bar. After all, if I have to schmooze, so to speak, what better environment to do it in than one in which I'm comfortable (i.e. football, bar and drinks)?

It wasn't as bad as I thought. My bigger boss beat me 1-0 in table ice hockey (the lowest losing margin of everyone else he played, and not because he wasn't trying) and I didn't do too badly in darts, managing to get most of my darts on the board. And I met some of their friends (one or two in the same industry as we are, and their clients). All in all, I had fun even if my team lost the game on penalty kicks after having started out so promisingly with a goal right at the beginning of the second half.

What's the point in this post? Well, one day I'm going to look back at this and remind myself that no matter how shy I am, I am indeed capable of holding my own when talking to anyone, and that includes senior management at my own workplace. Currently, I'm very bad at it, and my face turns red when I an unexpectedly asked a question during meetings. So the fact that I could chat with them comfortably once means that I can do it again. And again and again if need be. Even if it's back at the office, in an environment where it's not obviously 'my turf.'