This weekend in addition to a major assignment, there was also the company Holiday party.
No big deal right? The plan was to go, have some dinner with the people I work with, and come back home and continue my assignment.
Which is more or less what happened. I planned the night, have a drink at the bar, a glass of wine with dinner, socialize a bit and go home. I had maybe 3 drinks over the period of 4 hours... I should have drank more...
We arrived at the location for the party, and there were probably 5 other companies that were having their festivities in the same place. When we descended the stairs at what was essentially a convention center style part of the hotel, we were hit with a wall of noise.
I went into IMMEDIATE sensory overload. I wanted to RUN back to the car and go home, order a pizza and put on my pyjamas and enjoy the peace and quiet of my home.
In the before times (before COVID) I went out and socialized, but I drank a lot. But I socialized with people. Since the pandemic I have stopped drinking (as much) and I have more sensory issues with loud noises, and crowds. I'd like to blame COVID for everything - but alas this has always been an issue for me. My sister suggested that I get earplugs that dull the background noise like she bought for the littlest nephew (grandson) - guess where those were? AT HOME! The last time I used them was at the baseball stadium. I regret my decision to leave the house.
Needless to say I was not drunk or hungover after the party - I am however emotionally drained. I am not sure how long this will last but all I want to do is cuddle my dogs and husband and stay REALLY quiet.
At least there are no "Daemonyka Stories" of getting too drunk and doing something stupid (when I was in my twenties at a holiday party I got so drunk I changed clothes with one of the guys on my team in the bathroom) - but I did feel the need to apologize on Monday for being quiet/weird.
This summarizes it nicely: