My last job was at a very interesting place with all kinds of characters. I missed the really fun one (a guy who showed up posing as a very wealthy person and promising a large donation, so the office started courting him and holding cocktail events in his honor, all without a penny from him. Turns out he was a complete scammer, but we treasured the photos of him with our music director and Board chair! I was on maternity leave at the time so missed the whole thing.), but I did get to deal with the corporate giant who was involved in accounting and medicare fraud and whose name was prominently displayed in our lobby (until he went to jail, that is), the posse of drunk Irish musicians making passes at every woman backstage, the well to do patrons who got in a fistfight over a box seat, the VP for Finance who tried to "repurpose" the endowment while spending most of his days trolling the halls trying to catch people playing solitare on their computers.

In retrospect, all of this is both horrifying and really, really funny. It DOES make for good stories. But in my new job in a completely stable organization where people come to work and do their jobs and are dedicated to the mission and tend to stay until they retire, it took me a while to readjust. I love it here and I love the lack of drama, but there are days that I miss the colorful people. Sigh.

Oh, wait! I forgot about the time the bomb squad was called in when someone left some electronic equipment behind in the lobby and the other time when the Israeli symphony played and we all had to have security checks and there were snipers posted on nearby rooftops.

Life was never boring.

Sarah