Deck the Halls, Not Your Colleagues

styrofoam plates were like the worst possible type of styrofoam. It's like the great value of all great. Y that's just what happened. I don't like, I don't know. Dollar store. Foam plates that don't read. Like you need to have them. Cause it's not. Home is not foaming. That's. That's exactly the caliber I'm talking about. Oh, no. See, now that I will not show up for I'm sorry. Excuse me. I go to that party one time. Next year. I'm not coming. Hey there, friends and welcome to becoming a boss where we take some time each week to talk with someone who is wrestling with a specific situation at work. I'm your host, Megan. And today we finally got Wallace back in that. We'll be back. We are going to talk about today, our problem, and you might not even know you have. TIS the season for office holiday parties and. Whoa. To give you well, hopefully some helpful tips and tricks to navigate the season six. Testily. Yes. What do you think is the absolute worst thing that you can do? Like at the office holiday party. There's I have a couple of things that could be tied for top worse, but I'm just going to go out and say, I think the worst thing you could do. His drink too much. We are so in tune. alright, great minds. That's what I had. I'm drinking too much. I feel like typically at the office, the holiday office party, you're going to have drinks there depending on where you work. But I think it's pretty typical. Yes. And you cannot do it. You should probably have one drink. And that's probably it. That's probably it and make sure you eat because sometimes even that one drink. I mean, if you're like me. Wondering can sometimes do it. So you got to eat, make sure you eat before you get there. Yes. But yes, do not. Over-drink also. Like don't hit on anyone. Especially if they're married. Oh, my word. This has happened, please don't do it. This has happened. That's really bad weight. Wait, were you the married one? No. No, no. I was not married. One for the person doing the hitting on. but yes, this has happened. Ah, Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Don't hit on married people at the work party and don't drink too much of the work party. Also don't make an appropriate jokes. Ooh, that's on my list too. Although I think that is a good number one. And number two. So don't drink too much. Don't hit on somebody, especially a married people and. don't say inappropriate jokes. Yeah. I had just watch your mouth because. Just because you're at the holiday office party does not mean it's a party party. No, there's kitchen talk. And then there's office work party. Talk and. Yeah. That's, that's not it. I would avoid religion and politics, just like the bar. Yes. I would've bought avoid religion and politics at all costs. Let's not talk about work too much. Let's not talk gossip about coworkers. Let's not talk about the boss. Okay. Crying out loud. You're heading all the things. Okay. Well, here's the thing. You. The people who are hosting the party. Are not. Their intention is not for you to be there. Talking about work. You're already talking about work all day long. They long. So. Break free of that. Free of that. And what a great opportunity to get to know your coworkers without having a deadline or without it being a meeting or without having to be transactional. Here's an opportunity to get to know the people you work with. Yeah. So I would say. One of the things. If you have a highly, and if you have a highly engaged team, The people on it are collaborating and they're. Close. Relationally, they have dug roots. They have been in the trenches together. They know each other's families. They know about each other's families. This is. A normal high functioning team. So if you don't have already a high-functioning team, the holiday party. At the office would be a great opportunity for you too. Dig and maybe you're not going to dig all those roots. And one night, but you could begin to dig them. Or dig a little bit or like dig. A little bit further. And just kind of find out next level, what is going on, right. With the person that you sit next to you every day, right? We would hope. We would hope. Okay. Sometimes parties are not conducive to that though. I love when a office party has like either a theme or a game or some opportunity built in. Too. Kind of foster conversations and foster that, Yeah. Cause sometimes people can tend to either. Just talk to the same person. They always talk to the one person they feel comfortable talking to. Right. Or if it's a party where you bring your spouse. Sometimes people just hang out with their spouses and not try to hang out with the other people. So I like when a party has some kind of element, like an interactive element. So like old, old job I had, we used to do, Like a not secret Santa, like a white elephant type thing. Everybody gets a gift. And then you had like numbers or something like it was on the spot. You weren't like giving to someone, you just bought a gift. You brought a gift. Under a dollar amount or whatever. And then at the party we would draw numbers or something to the order of like picking up the gift. Exactly. Then someone. Who steal your gift? I think it's the white elephant that I'm describing. You're absolutely right. Something like that. It. What do you like, or not like you're interacting, you ended up interacting with people and even, you know, the person you don't know, but now you see that gift that they just opened a new one. It like. I want that blanket. You're going to anyway, it fosters like community immunity. Camaraderie, just like, you know, you know, you're joking back and forth. At this one party, somebody brought a chia pet and that was just like the funniest thing. nobody wanted to end up with the chia pet. So it was. But that was hilarious. And then the guy that brought the chia pet, everybody was like climbing him the whole rest of the year. Like you, the guy with the TFA. So anyway, those are, I like where there's an element that is conducive to. Comradery and stuff like that. Otherwise it's, I think easy for people to stay in their shell and just talk to the same people. I always talk to. Yeah. So I agree with you. And I had that on the list of if you are actually in charge of the party, here are some things that you could do. Yes. And that is one of the things. Although, do you have any other examples of, Because you're right. Here's what's going to happen. If you don't do anything, they're going to come. And then they're going to eat and then they're going to leave, which is not what we recommend. We do not recommend that you dine and dash. No, not at all because you're kind of disrespecting the intentions. Of the leader. the party planner, the organizer. You know, You're just kind of. Stepping all over it. Let's be honest, the people we work with, we spend sometimes more time. Then with our own families. So I think it's in everybody's best interest to know the people that you work with. And for them to know a little bit about you. Right. So that is the opportunity. So you are defeating the whole purpose. If you go and either keep to yourself or just. Dine and dash, and I think it also brings when you see a person in a different context. It helps to bring perspective that you may not otherwise have. received. And I think that's helpful sometimes because you may be wondering why. Joni is always right out the door at five o'clock. And you're like, well, she's a slacker. She's right out the door at five o'clock every single day, she never stays late. They are always offering overtime. She never takes the overtime. And then in conversation with her at the office party, you find that she actually has an elderly mother, that she has to run home to take care of it. Right. And that's why she has to leave exactly at five o'clock to make an entire right, to give her her medicine. And so it's just like, you don't know. That you don't know. And we accidentally, sometimes we accidentally make these assumptions. About people. And we're not trying to do it on purpose, but sometimes that happens. If we don't have any other information, our brains will fill in the gap. Correct. And it doesn't always fill out what the best things Cora. another thing. That I think it's good. I think I can't remember where I saw this, but there were little questions at the table where we were. I love that little, like icebreaker questions for you to ask people. So that's really good because people sometimes don't feel comfortable initiating conversation with someone they haven't had like personal conversation with before. So these little questions I thought were great. So having something like that, where. It's easy. Somebody doesn't have to think about it. You don't have to feel awkward because you don't know what to say. It's already there for you and it's, you know, Harmless conversation starters. And other little games that are kind of like that, but don't require a whole lot of effort, or a whole lot of. What's the word. I don't know, competitiveness. I feel like sometimes if you get me playing a certain game, W like I could end up losing friends because. I want to win. I will. Yeah. Yeah. maybe not something so happy, but maybe not something so heavy, but definitely questions. I think the white elephant is like almost a no-brainer and you said, you know, you, you make it. Budget friendly, because it's not about the gift. It's about the experience and the fun. And I think that could be a lot of fun. I like that. something that is not necessarily traditional, but I happen to love is when, and I've seen that. not a lot, but maybe a couple of times. When part of the party, or like even at the end or the beginning is something that involves outreach. You know, I know it's a little bit more complicated, but, okay. We're going to write cards for yes. The elderly home. We're going to ride cards for teachers, for whatever. We're going to wrap presents for, whatever. You know, things like that, that get people together and that you're working together with someone and it's youth. packing things is great. I know we just did that at church, and I know that may not be. feasible for everyone, but they just said that a church, where. After, I think it was vision nine. Well, we had, Backpacks was it or no, it was Thanksgiving. Like Neil kids that we were packing. For people in the community. And that was so much fun. It was like, okay. and the, and the table who finishes first get, you know, is the winner. You don't get anything. And you're just a winner. You get bragging rights. And that was really cool. Yeah. Things like that. I don't know. I like that. That's really good. I love that I like when a company. Takes pride in. Having a positive impact in the community. And so I love when a holiday party can be like, Can we capture that right? I agree with you a hundred percent. I would've not have thought about that on my own. Cause I've never, I, I liked that a lot. Never in my life. Have I experienced that at a holiday party, but. All right. We may not agree on this. Are you ready? Here's another one. And I'm I'm from I'm from on it. Oh, gosh. You have to show up. At the holiday party. Meaning like you can't skip it. You can't skip it. Oh, I've never skipped one. I wouldn't like I've never skipped one. Okay. if you're having a party, I'm going. Not that site. Okay, well, here's the thing. Some of us introverts, ah, Went to stay at home. Because we're already around people all day long. Okay. And so we really have had enough at that point. However, my argument is, if you are a boss, you have got to, and I'm saying, if you're a boss, Like we were an actual loss or if you're trying to be a boss or whatever, if you're a boss, you gotta show up for your people. You have to show up for them. Yes. You're setting an example of what it, oh yeah, you can, you can't knock over to the party. You cannot. What example are you setting? Yeah. And the people that. Are around you. They know you're an introvert, probably. So they know that you don't necessarily want to be in big crowds, but you're there, but you're there. And that says something and it says something. Yes, exactly. Yes. So yeah, show, oh, you have to, you have to. And yeah, people may say this or that. It listen, it's a couple of hours. It's literally a couple of hours. Out of the thousands of hours that we have in a year. Yeah. You guys. You gotta show up. All right. So this is one that is one of my favorites. It's happened. Multiple times I've seen. Dress appropriately. Oh, For everything. There was a classic. Come on. just, I don't know what to call it. It was like an ensemble, but there was mostly skin involved in the outfit. Oh. And it was the holiday party. No, we've got to read the room. Where are we going? Yeah, I mean, it was fancy. What was it work appropriate? No, it was the work of her. I think people think that especially when the party is not at the office, the parties, like either at someone's house, like sometimes it's like at the boss's house or sometimes it's at a restaurant or sometimes that whatever. And I think people think because we're not at the office, we could dress, like we go into the club, but we're not going to the club. We're still. With our coworkers. So here's what you can wear. You can wear what they said to wear. So if they said, does this cash. Yes. Then biz cash. It is. Yes. And one probably baby tip is you probably don't want to be underdressed. You know what I'm going to dress. And another rule of thumb is if you're questioning it, don't wear it. If you're wondering, I wonder if this is appropriate, don't wear it. It's not, it's not, if that thought is crossing your mind. It is likely not. So to back on the rack, put it back. Wear it. With your girlfriends or wherever you were it not enough. No. Later that night, even. Yes. Yes, that is so important. Okay. So that's a big one. what else? So here's what we have. You have to show up. Don't drink too much. Dress a pur corporately. Watch your mouth to mouth. Don't dine and dash don't dine and dash. Cause that time is. Set to do more than just feed you. Right. How do you feel about bringing spouses to the party? If it's. Because I've seen it both ways where it's just office people allowed. And then where you can bring your spouse. Some people get divided with this because some people feel if you bring the spouse, then we're not interacting, then you're just going to be with your spouse or you're going to feel like you have to entertain the spouse. Yeah. How do you feel about that? Okay, so I, it depends, my answer is. It depends. And here's the reason why it depends because Some companies are. Family integrated and some companies are not. So I'll give you an example. My husband works for the church. It is very much a family job. The people are my friends. The things that we do, we obviously go to church on the Sunday. We have Bible study on Monday. It's very much a family thing. And so in that environment, it would be weird. Not to have spouses, right. That's true. However in previous environments where the team was a lot bigger, hundreds of people even. It's just not that intimate of a relationship with the people that are at the office. So it's definitely not going to be. Intimate with the 300 people. It's just going to be a mess. And although it's nice to have a nice night out. It's more a question of what is your intention, because if all you're trying to do. His feed everybody a nice meal and then have a couple of drinks and go home, then that's cool. But there's nothing that's gonna really support. Building the relationship, which I think is really what we want to do. Right. Now that's a good one. I guess I wasn't thinking about it in that larger of a scale. But yeah, I can see how that. Can we get tricky, but we've done a lot of scale. Actually, you know, what. So Jocelyn came to a holiday party with me when it was really, really big environment, but my team was small. At that time. I only had maybe. Ten eight people. So we were all at the same table together. Oh, that's nice. So that was actually nice because he knew all the people. So he knows. Ruth is de. Jasmine is. The da and he just knew about their lives or Beth. Her husband, their kid, their situation, their like all the things, right. Because we were in close. Connection. So I think it just depends on the situation because we've also been to holiday party was not. It's just so big. You get lost in SEO. Hmm. Interesting. I actually haven't been through the holiday work party in. Many many years now that I think about it. So. Yeah. Are they phasing out? Do I feel like, I think they are. I feel like they are. And actually, I just saw a friend that posted about her husband's work party. And she said, I'm grateful that this company still does this. Yeah. And I know the company she works for has not done them in years. Just I think. Yeah. Some companies feel like after they get to a certain size, it's like weird. Like what do you even do? And is it cost-effective. And should we use this money? Can we use this money? And sometimes I've heard people be like, don't give me a holiday party. I want the bonus, you know, so yeah. But I think with the work remote stuff and just, I feel like work parties are. Different. At the very least. Yeah. So I, so I also made a list of if you're the organizer. What types could we give? So you already gave a few, but one of the things that you just reminded me of is. So pretend it's a smaller company and you have a small team and you maybe don't have that budget to go buy the yeah. You know, the clubhouse at the end of the road. Well, if that's the case, it is always more intimate when you're at a person's house. Like. You had mentioned, and I've done that. Boss's willing to open. Their home or maybe a team lead. Like opens their home to their small team. I think that's really great because you can spend money on really good food. Yes. And then the people actually have time and then you can facilitate the evening to be more intentional with building those relationships that we talked about. Yes. And I wonder if your friend that she enjoys the holiday parties. I wonder what their holiday parties are like. You're gonna have to tell me later. Like is, are they intentional about, like, why does she enjoy them so much? Is my question. That's interesting. Yeah, I think like knowing her and knowing myself, I think, you enjoy going. And I think that the holiday party almost feels like a little bit of like a reward for a job well done. And I think people like that. And I know her husband is in sales. I know he travels a lot. I know he's gone a lot, I think for somebody like that. So at the end of the year, we're coming to this party. I know like this party is involved. They do awards. They do all the things and new awards and they do recognition and they do all that. Yeah. It's gotta be nice. Especially before a wife, who's shared her husband all year with this company, with this job and he's away and he's doing this right. And now you're like, this is your little reward you're at this party. You're being fed good food and drinks and there's rewards and there's music and there's, and I think you feel like this is my little share of. Yeah. Of a reward for a job. Well done. Right. I like that. I have not, I've not thought about it from that perspective. That's what it always felt like to me, like, okay, we worked really hard all year. And Hmm. We're celebrating. We're celebrating. That we worked really hard together this year and we did good. I've never, ever, ever thought about it like that. Really. Huh. For me, it's been, this is what you have to do. Oh. I'm kind of an introvert. I get that. I think that's why. Yeah, I just, I love the. I don't know, the jury is still out. If I'm an introvert or not. I can't decide. You can be both. And I think you can, yes, you can be both. And I think it's also, it could be circumstantial. Because I know that I can be in a group of people where I will not. Say anything or feel like, you know, But then I'm going to go for people. Like I can't stop. I mean when I'm with you, I can't stop talking. Yeah. So when you're talking to the world right now, Oh, gosh. So. I don't know. I, yeah, I don't know. So I can be both. Here's why I know. And I think I'm leaning a little, even more toward introvert as I get older because I'm recognizing what fills me up. And when I need to recharge. And when, if I'm out of gas and you're like, Megan, what? Like. Girl, you need to get it together. What do I think about, I need to do. I need to be by myself. Got it. I need to be by myself with my books or. Music. On a walk, but I need to but you wouldn't, you wouldn't guess that because one I'm around people. I have no problem talking to people. It's not a problem for me. It's just. I don't know. I always feel like. It can certainly be draining, especially when you're like just having transactional conversation. That's what it is. That's what I was trying to put my finger on because it works having a conversation we're actually solving problems or moving forward, or just, I don't know, having intentional conversations, it just means so much more to me. Yep. I just like complaining about what the weather did. Like. I can see there. And that is why those little questions at the table or wherever are really helpful. And because that can break those barriers. And initiate something. That's not necessarily transactional, even though it may start like that. And it may just be like that. There's somebody, you may approach with a question trying to have a whole conversation and they're like not having it and that's okay. But yeah, I think the holiday party, I don't know, it always felt like an opportunity for me to dress Q N See people in a different light. I mean, should we used to drive from Florida for the volunteer holiday party? All nine hours. Just to see the people and yeah. I don't know. I, I'm about the holiday party. Yeah. I am about the holiday party. Interesting. Okay. one more thing. if we are trying to help the organizer oh yes. Okay. Here, I will say this about the organizer. Okay. We on the flip side, we're telling people not to drink too much. Yeah. I would say that the organizer, it is okay to have a limit. Oh, it is okay to have a limit. Do you need to have a limit? Because some people can have a limit. We got it. Help people help themselves. Yeah, it is okay to have a limit about the alcohol. I don't even think it's okay. I think it's necessary. I think it's necessary. I think you should put your foot in. The danger comes when there isn't. So not everybody can, you would think people can handle it. Not everybody can, unfortunately, no. I've seen that go wrong so many times. Yes. You know, there's a world cruise right now going on and it's nine months. And I heard this lady make this joke of like, it's all drinks included. All of the drinks. You can have all of the drinks that you want all day, every day for nine months. And so, and she was saying she brought up a really good point that there are people that may not know. Megan is like, You should see Megan space right now. And she's like, no way. yeah. Think about that. So, and she's like, there are people that may not even know that this could lead them down. path, they don't want to go down, but they don't know because they've never had an open bar for nine months. yeah, that's happening right now. They sit, sit sale December 6th, returning. September of 2024, they're going to 66 countries. I am following. Let's just say I'm following the screws. I don't want to get us off track here, but I am following the journey very, very closely because I am fascinated and people are doing it with their whole families. There are people on this boat, homeschooling and working full time. Because you have all the internet, there are people homeschooling. cruise line took a survey. Yeah. It's insane. There are people doing it with their husbands people who are their parents, people doing it as like sister it's. And. Tell me, that's not going to be interesting being trapped in the special for nine months. Yeah. Your sister with, with an open bar? No, with the open bar. I just don't. So, anyway. We don't run out of. Not everybody can have an open bar, is, is the point. That's the end of the story is. Strongly suggested to drink requirement. Yeah, two drink maximum two drink maximum. I would say. Yes. I mean, what, who, what are we trying to do here? What are we trying to accomplish? Right. All right. I had a note to provide an elegant setting depending on your company. If possible, we already talked about, if you cannot, you don't have that type of budget, you could possibly have somebody open their home, but I just want to I have been a dinner where some of my colleagues had never had dinner with. A cloth napkin before. We're not all from the same place, right? We're not. And if you can, and you're in a company that can afford that, then provide a nice thinner. Now, let me ask you this. Since you said about that. Do you think it makes the person that's never had dinner with a cloth napkin uncomfortable. In a way because they feel it. Could it be too fancy for someone not used to that? could they make, they feel like fish out of water, like, oh, this is too elegant for me. Type thing. I think it depends the gap. I. It does depend the gap. You got to read the crowd. I think right. You gotta know your people. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. So elegant dinner. And I'm saying elegant dinner, but that can be taken a lot of different ways. If you have a whole bunch of food on display that I've never seen before, I'm going to be uncomfortable too. Right. And I'm sure that that's very possible. So I think it depends. However In this particular scenario. It was not so far fetched. Because a lot of the people were on their way up, they had cloth napkins in their future. It was like this. You know what I mean? It was just like that. Interim. Okay. So, yeah, I think, The goal should be to make it as nice as you possibly can. It should be. special for me, special. That's special. Right? As special as you can. And if, if as special as you can is, you know, barbecue on plates from Sam's, that's cool because it's a specialist, you can do it. and I'm saying that I've worked for very small companies and for big companies. Right. and, and so I've seen like both and. as long as you make it as nice as you can make it. I want it to feel special. I don't want it to feel like, yeah, I want it to feel special. Otherwise I don't really see the point. It's gotta be special. Well, here's the thing. So, yeah, maybe it's not, about the knob. Okay. First of all, the food has to be good. Can we have to be good. So it has to be. Yeah. And again, that will vary. Like I'm not necessarily, I mean, I've had dinners where it's like, you know, lobster and crab claws and stuff like that, which I adore, but that's not for everybody. Not everybody can afford that. Right. And then I've had it where it's just been, you know, barbecue or even like, Pizza and salad, but it's nice. And there's like a fabulous dissert table or something like, I don't know. You can make a nice, just make it nice. Make it nice. I guess that's what I'm saying because I, was a little jaded because a company that had plenty of money to go around, but then the party was on. I'm saying styrofoam plates and it's not doing it justice because the styrofoam plates were like the worst possible type of styrofoam. It's like the great value of all great. Y that's just what happened. I don't like, I don't know. Dollar store. Foam plates that don't read. Like you need to have them. Cause it's not. Home is not foaming. That's. That's exactly the caliber I'm talking about. Y I don't know, I wasn't not in jail. Oh, no. See, now that I will not show up for I'm sorry. Excuse me. I go to that party one time. Next year. I'm not coming. And I'm sorry. And that would be valid. I'm not showing up. Okay. No show rule is going to be Norman Boyd. If they're styrofoam plays that I need to double up. No. So no styrofoam is one thing I need to double them up. You lost me. I'm just saying like, why even do. If you can't do it, then. It's a picnic at the park and we're playing ball or something, but the holiday party and I dress cute and I got a babysitter or whatever. I ran. No, say it again. Not doing it. Sorry. What was the point of that? Yeah, that's fine. Was there like a big bonus handed at the door? Like, did we see where the money went? If we ate these bleeds. No. We see now that to me, Is borderline insulting because if you know, again, if it's like a small company and you don't have money, I'm not going to judge you because guess what? If you're a small company and you don't have a big budget and you still want to do a little holiday party for us to get together, I respect that and I'm going to show up. Yeah. And I'm going to bring some plates if we need to, like, that's cool. I'm good with that. Potluck. That's okay. If you really cool with the people you work with. I'm completely okay with that. Yeah. But if we know that you have a big budget, And you've given me. Foam plates, I'm going to feel not appreciated. Right. And so that's what I'm saying. Like you were saying earlier, it has to be nice because you're trying to make them feel appreciated. Yes. So if you show up. And you're getting the double punk. What are we going to call this? Double foam. That's just doesn't. No, I could have stayed home for this. I didn't need to put on this dress and do curl my hair. And leave my kids with a babysitter and the food was bad. No. No. it's not, No. Okay. No. cause now you're costing me money. Sometimes people have to pay a babysitter. Yeah, unless you have like a building. One like maybe there's I'm free. Like. Yeah. If you don't, if you're not leaving the kids with like your mom, Or something and you have to pay for that. And if you paid for an Uber to get there or something, Don't get. Uber. It's not good now. You're costing me money. Now, maybe that's the case, then lift the two drink rule. I'm going to be mad. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. No, it's just. I don't know. I don't like the intention behind that. Yeah, it just didn't feel right. all right. So I think that's a wrap. Do you have anything else that you wanted to add? So I feel like we went over the do's and don'ts. Just yeah. I just, it needs to be fun. It needs to be entertaining. there should be. Some form of entertainment, either it's music either we're going to play a game or we're gonna, there has something I liked the game idea and the reason why is because not that it even has to be. a white elephant, because if you don't have them, I mean, that's, you know, five, 10, $15, whatever, but I'm saying. If I want to have the engagement of the people. Yes. That's the whole goal. So celebrate what we've. I've done for the year and then also to build on the relational equity that we have already built whole rest. So if you're not doing that, then. Right. We should all just go home. Right? Right. There's. There's. no point. I'm so harsh. I need to be nicer. Okay. That's it for today. Thank you for listening. Hey, what a timely message that we got, right? Yeah. All of the office party right in time, because that's going to be happening like right? now. Yeah. So right now. Perfect timing. Thank you all for listening. Hope that helped you. Do you want to be part of the show? you. can call us text us (864) 619-1683. To share your story and we will get into it about what the leader should have done differently. And also, who are you thinking about during this episode? Hit that button and share it with a friend of yours so that you can have one more thing to talk about this week. And another thing we want to hear from you about your own holiday office party. So type it in the YouTube comments. If you had a really good experience with your holiday office party or a really, really bad one. I am almost more curious about those. But really, I want to know all the way. Tell us everything. Yes. And listen friend. We know it's not easy, but remember that whatever it is, you're walking through, you're not alone and together we can make the world a better place to work. Thanks for listening team. Take care. And see you next week. Let's go In the bush. I in the bush provide for me. That's why I...