I'm one of Santa's elves, stuck babysitting for an office of 20

We had our office party last night. After a week of hell, it's finally over with. This week has been the worst week I've ever had at the office. I had people coming at me left and right expecting me to make their priorities my own. Being the only administrative person around, I feel like their pulling me in all directions and they're not hearing me when I say "it has to wait" because they continue to pull. I swear, if they keep this up, they will soon have to learn to fend for themselves because I won't put up with it much longer.

Our Nation's Veterans have no place in the working world

Recently, a friend of my partner's was venting about applying for work at placed like Fred Meyer's, Albertson's, etc. These people tell him that they won't hire him because he has no work experience. What the fuck people! The man fought for our country in Iraq because of our brainless president! How can you sit there and say he has no work experience! It takes a big set of balls and the guts to joing the military and be sent off to another country and engage the enemy in combat for something they may or may not believe in. One thing's for sure: he fought that we may continue to have the freedom we bask in day in and day out and take for granted. It's idiots like the hiring people who don't put this into consideration. I bet if the roles were reversed they'd think twice. I just pray that he can find a job sooner or later. The same happened to my dad when he retired from the Air Force. After serving his country for over 25 years, no one in San Francisco wanted to hire him. He finally landed a security job because the security and public safety industries like people with military and law enforcement background. The downfall however is the same as the military - you gain health issues and aren't taken care of properly.

"We're going out because I said so..."

I've never really been big on socializing. I'm a very private person. I enjoy time to myself, but if I were to be around people, I prefer that it's with a small group, which to me is no more than 10 people. I have a strange phobia of crowds. It was especially tough when I worked in malls. Christmas season was the worse. I think, for the most part, that as long as I'm in good company or with people I love being around with, I can be myself openly and feel quite comfortable. When it comes to meeting new people, I feel like I'm at work. I'm "forced" to be a certain way until I feel ready to let them get to know the real me. But more than half the time, I'm not even motivated to do this. Like cravings for certain foods, my "want" to meet new people comes when it wants to. Yes, it's a very rare occasion, but it does happy. I've fallen into a comfort zone after relocating from California and I've grown to embrace it, enjoy it and very unwilling to let it change. My partner has been making friends at school so I've been feeling a lesser of a need to fulfill that end of the bargain of meeting new people for her since she's done that very well for herself. I may be somewhat of a hermit and have the tendency to ostracize myself, but I have yet to ascertain the reasoning behind this. It could be perhaps because I've been hurt one too many times in the past that I've just thrown the towel in and feel my efforts will be a waste of energy and time.

So when I'm told I have to go somewhere and it runs outside the perimeter of my personal plans/ wishes, naturally I'm going become bitchy and sound like a cry-baby, because I'm not getting my way. But it also doesn't mean I won't end up enjoying myself.