The Birthday Bag

The brightly colored gift bag sitting on the floor in front of my office was an unexpected surprise. I had only been in the Springfield office for a month and didn’t expect anyone to even notice that it was my birthday. The card on the bag said “Read me first”. As I began to read the card I couldn’t help but laugh.

“First Birthdays are always extra special at a new job so I am presenting you with the NHC traditional B-day attire. All rules must be followed or you will be cursed with bad birthday luck. Enjoy (rules below)
1. Birthday attire must be worn at all times in office
2. All items in bag must be worn
3. FYI: You will get funny looks throughout the day – snickers as you pass by should be taken as a complement (remember: we have all had to wear this B-day attire at our 1st B-day with NHC)
4. Be creative with bag items
5. You may add items but may not take any away
6. Don’t try to wear the reed diffuser (where you would even put that – I don’t know) It’s just a gift.

The card was signed “Happy B-day Have Fun - MGK”

At the time I couldn’t figure out who MGK was. My first though was Melinda Kessler one of our clerical team. So, in the spirit of good fun I picked up the bag and took it into my office. The bag contained a pink and purple feather boa, a tiara, princess clip on earrings, garden gloves, a reed diffuser air freshner and a birthday tablecloth . A birthday tablecloth? What in the world? Was I really supposed to wear that? Well I went ahead and put on all the items – including the tablecloth. It made a lovely cape! I proceeded to go to Melinda’s office to show her my Birthday outfit and thank her for including me in this funny tradition. Melinda took one look at me and burst out laughing.

Smiling, I asked, “Melinda, am I really supposed to wear the tablecloth?”

She looked a little confused. “Tablecloth?”

Now I looked a little confused. “Didn’t you leave the bag outside my door? Aren’t you MGK?”

Still smiling she replied, “No – what bag?”

I proceeded to show Melinda the card and she started laughing again. “I bet it was Christy.”

Christy Gibson is one of our RN’s. Up until this time I had always perceived her as kind of quiet. Boy was I wrong! Christy has quite a sense of humor and is our resident prankster. So, I went off looking for Christy. During my hunt for her I ended up parading around the entire office in my birthday getup. I did indeed get many snickers and compliments not to mention a few “what are you doing?” looks.

When I found Christy she started laughing. “I didn’t know if you would actually wear it or not!”

It turns out that our “NHC Birhday Bag Tradition” started that very day with me. We had so much fun with it that we decided it did need to be a tradition. Now on every birthday the bag and instructional card magically show up on the birthday person’s desk. After they put on their outfit they do a parade around the office while we laugh together and have a few moments of fun. Many pictures are taken to be added to a poster depicting all of our staff birthdays. Each person adds something new to the bag and passes it on to the next recipient. The last person had to wear the tiara, pink and purple boa, princess earrings, tablecloth (works as a skirt or a cape), tinkerbell slap bracelet, purple wig and giant sunglasses. I can’t wait until the December birthdays!