Hey, Egg Hunters!
Like you, we here at Everything Summer Camp can’t help ourselves this time of year. Whenever springtime rolls around bringing green grass, we always get antsy to go looking for some hidden eggs around the workplace.
We held a pretty intense Hunt here yesterday in anticipation of the coming holiday. With so much action happening all at once, hardly anyone can give me an accurate account of the day’s actual events. Good thing I was there, in the middle of all the action.
Most people put a couple jelly beans or some other fun treats inside the eggs they hide, but yesterday, we were given a little more incentive to find our eggs. We had a good handful of candy prizes, but we also had ticket prizes to movies and other events, certificates for hours of Paid Time Off, and cold, hard cash (ranging from two dollars to 50 bucks)!
If no one found the $50 egg, the prize was to be given to a random winner among all participants.
The eggs were placed in the hallways of the offices, the Call Center, the bathrooms, our large Production Workshop where our footlockers are made, and—of course—the break room. All the eggs were readily available and visually hidden—in other words, you didn’t need to “go through” anything to find an egg.
Also, each participant was limited to finding just two eggs so you really had to choose wisely. In some cases, it might have been smarter to pass on collecting a found egg if it doesn’t look like a really good one.
If I had just one word to describe yesterday’s Egg Hunt, I think my best choice would be ‘melee’! Everyone had been gathered into the break room where the rules and boundaries of the hunt were given. And after that it was simply—“GO!”
With that, the majority of the 20 participants made a mad dash exiting through the front and back doors in desperate search of the “Golden Egg” that held the grand prize of $50. But a few wise ones hung back in the break room. Their strategy was more composed. I was one of them.
I spotted a small purple egg sitting on a purple flyswatter on top of the refrigerator but it didn’t look all that special.
Bill, a seasonal hand in our shipping department, made the comment that probably no one would find the Golden Egg and the prize would end up going to some random winner. This seemed like smart reasoning to me so I took the purple egg and left the break room.
I then walked out into the production area. It was all abuzz of speedily moving, efficiently searching, rampantly rummaging egg hunters. While I was out there I saw Ryan, Manager of our Shipping Department, as he spotted his only find cleverly hidden underneath a spray sink.
The Production area began to clear out when I discovered my second egg—a bigger, more special-looking egg. Could this be the $50 prize? I thought. It was green (which wasn’t a good sign), but I thought I’d better take what I could get. With both my eggs, I thought I’d scope the pandemonium that had moved to the offices. I’d never seen the place look THAT busy before.
Our president, Ed, was quietly tucked away in his office.
“Did you already find both your eggs?” I asked. He had grabbed a small egg on a production palette and another bigger one that he said he found behind our receptionist, Missy’s desk.
“I just want to stay safe in here until it’s over out there,” he said with a smile.
As I continued my way down our office’s corridor, I saw Pam, our seasonal help in the Graphic Arts Department, spot her egg between a storage rack and a wall. That egg awarded her an hour of Paid Time Off!
It was right after that when I heard the announcement from Shirley, our Production Supervisor, that the Golden Egg had been discovered. I rushed passed everyone in the Call Center, back to the break room where Myron, one of our guy’s in Production, sat with the Golden Egg and a big grin.
“Where was it?” I asked him. He said it was placed in between hanging coats on a rack against the wall.
“I never even left the room,” he said.
Well, Myron may have taken home the grand prize, but everyone won SOMETHING and I’m pretty sure fun was had by all. I, for instance, had a great time and took home five dollars as well as a tasty bag of candy that I’m enjoying right now.
Happy Hunting, Everybody!
- John