Remembering the third glass

I've been drunk a few times in front of officemates. Office outings and parties are always overflowing with alcohol, and my friends know how easy it is to get me drunk.

Being drunk in front of officemates includes being drunk in front of the boss, and the boss's boss -- which is usually okay, because everyone's drunk anyway. Including the boss, and the boss's boss.

But it's different when you're in a small group and a small venue, and you're the only one who's inebriated-- as my teammate Ice reminded me just now. My boss hosted Christmas dinner for the team last December in a deli owned by his wife (the same deli this blog was born in, incidentally). Naturally, the boss and his wife were there -- and so were the boss' boss, and his wife.

I'm not a big fan of wine, but this deli has some of the best wines I've tasted. And somewhere through my third glass -- red-faced and glassy-eyed and a little too spontaneous for my own good -- my boss pulled out a wine bottle stopper out from behind the bar.

My boss's boss noticed and exclaimed in his loud voice: "THAT'S A NICE CORK!"

Being Indian and British-educated, the "O" came out rounder than usual, and the "R" came out pretty much silent.

It happened I was seated right beside him -- and I instantly turned towards him, looked at him with huge, incredulous eyes, and said: "THAT'S A NICE WHAT!?!" And laughed a red-faced, glassy-eyed, too-spontaneous, third-glass-of-wine laugh.

OMFG.

For the rest of the evening, my boss' boss referred used the word "bottle stopper" instead.

My last memory was a few minutes later, when the boss and the boss' boss had gotten up to check out the wine collection. I was wailing in front of the boss' wife and boss' boss' wife, who had stayed at the table. "Oh my God. I've made a fool of myself in front of my boss... my boss' wife... my boss' boss... and my boss' boss' wife..."

Thank God it was a short drive home that evening.

And thank God too for cool bosses, and bosses' wives.