Robbie Burns Day

In an ode to Scotland's favourite poet, today my office had an organized celebration of Burns' birthday and of Scottish culture in general. Now I've known about this shindig for a few weeks now but had no idea what to expect. Somewhere back about 5 generations or so I know there is some Scottish blood in my family line but we're definitely more Irish than anything else. So even though I tried to feel like I could relate, I really couldn't.
Anyways, at the office it's not entirely surprising that this is a highlight of the year for the company because upon reading the surnames of the staff list, it appears that about 70% of the employees here are of Scottish descent. Apparently each year this celebration becomes a little more organized and probably a little more insane. People came into work wearing plaid which is fair given the amount of people who wear green on St. Patrick's or red on Valentine's. We stopped working an hour early and congregated in the boardroom and watched a bagpiper march in, leading a procession in which the guest of honour was a haggis on a plate. Someone recited Burns' 'Ode to a Haggis' in a bad Scottish accent and then we were told to dig into the food spread.
Oh and there was a lot of expensive Scotch which a lot of people were liberally partaking in. I stayed for a while, gingerly tried the haggis which is quite tasty once you get over the fact that before it is cut open it looks like the most hideous thing in the world. It's about 50% oatmeal so it's not all weird meats mixed together and it has a pate kind of texture. I would say that if you can eat sausages than you can definitely eat haggis. I am not sure how much I could have eaten since I only had two spoonfuls but everything in moderation is always a good rule right?
Anyhow I ate a few other treats on the table, mainly short bread cookies and an awesome scone. Then I booked it at 5pm because as much as I hate to say this, I wasn't going to stick around for a party held AT work. If the party had taken place at a different venue, I would have stayed because it would have been AWAY from work. But it wasn't. And I had a life outside of work to get on with. It was however a very interesting experience more for observing the personalities of the older associates than anything else.