Draining morning

In was already shattered come the morning after a night of busy head following the conversation with my husband that evening.

Work was OK, I was almost hyper to start with. However, a morning of meetings quickly worn me down. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that video meetings are much tougher than meetings in person. Keeping track of who is speaking is difficult, even with their “window” highlighted. The transcript lags uncomfortably behind the speech. After a couple of meetings it feels as though everybody is talking at once (they’re not, its just how it seems).

The venue

The venue was, allegedly, a “posh” place. It seemed pretty plebeian to me.

The dining room was crammed with tables. Each table was crammed with places. Once seated, there wasn’t enough room to actually eat.

I needed an energy drink to cope.

The noise was intolerable because the room’s acoustics were so bad. The background music wasn’t too loud, but the close proximity of all the seated people made the conversation way louder than was comfortable.

At least I was sat at a table with friends.

Outside space

The food was surprisingly good, but I needed a break after the first two courses and found an outdoor space to decompress a little first. This space was a small sheltered outside deck for smokers. I was alone there for about fifteen minutes. The sound of the traffic from the motorway was a little troubling and didn’t allow for full decompression, but the little stream below the deck, the songs of robins, and the calls of grey squirrels were a relief.

I went back in for dessert. I had a cheese board: not a great choice for somebody suffering from a cluster of migraines of late, but it was ordered a month ago.

I couldn’t hear the conversations of those around me; the fellow to my left was particularly difficult to hear because he was a quiet spoken Indian chap with an accent.

Strike up the band

Then the band started.

The sound went right through me. I left for my outdoor refuge straight away.

The wife of the MD was already there, enjoying a cigarette. We chatted for a bit. She’d come to our table earlier and talked about business. I think she was trying to be encouraging, but I found her depressing at the time. The conversation on the deck was pleasant though. She has a charming east-European accent that makes her sound a little aristocratic.

After about ten minutes, others began to join us on the deck: it got a bit crowded and I was anxious to find somewhere else to sit.

My boss/friend learnt of a quiet bar at the back to the building and we escaped there.

Not allowed

I bought us a coffee each and we sat there quiet for a little while chattering and complaining about the racket from the band. A couple of friends joined us, and then the staff got awkward and said that we couldn’t stay there because they had another event on in that room.

We looked at each other.

“Let’s go home.” said my friends.

So we did.

Sensory deprivation

As soon as I got home I was straight to bed with some painkillers, the headphones and mask on. An hour later I was well enough to get up for a few hours.

I slept really badly that night; I find that I always do after days of high stimulation.

I wonder what others do to be able to sleep after days like this?

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Here’s a blog on autism and Christmas parties: Difficult Social Situations: 10 Tips To Navigate Christmas Parties