DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

I should have taken that long forgotten line from my grade school days seriously. In fact, I should paste it on my computer screen, my forehead, my car dashboard AND hang it from my rear view mirror whenever I march off to those never ending cocktails where I am wont to commit yet another faux pax in my life as a faux PR (!!) and communications (!!) manager. When I got that invitation from x society magazine more than a week ago, do you think I even bothered to call my contact and find out who exactly this bloke was that they were honoring with cocktails? Or WHY they were honoring him for that matter by inviting the magazine's top advertisers? (like moi?) Nah.. For me it was yet another cocktail function to get over with, a show-my-face-affair -- a hi and hello, smile for the photo op, nurse one glass, gulp-down-a-canape-or-two kind of affair... Well, as it happened, I lingered. And lingered and lingered (blame it on the delicious peking duck rolled in wanton wrapper, where Mario K and I had a secret competition as to who could wolf down the highest quantity in x number of minutes. He and I were the FIRST guests to arrive and thus had all the time to linger and discover the culinary delights of the evening.) And so in the process of lingering I found myself face to face with the esteemed honoree, the guy whose name, position and company was printed right smack in the center of the invitation, which of course I didn't bother to read much less absorb. After the introductions, armed with my flirty but still elegant, ready-for-Mon's-camera kind of smile, I asked him how long he had been working for the magazine. WELL, as it turned out, he never worked FOR the magazine. Mr. Honoree's company had just actually BOUGHT (bought. as in acquired) this international magazine and he was of course- ahem - the CEO. And THAT was the reason for the cocktail party in his honor, why I was holding my drink, why I was munching on the peking duck. I found myself staring at an olive, with the room getting smaller and smaller, and from the corner of my eye I think I saw the host's eyebrows shoot up and hit the chandelier.

I am right now still trying to wash off the imaginary blonde dye in my hair. In the meantime, I have sworn to always do my homework and never again face a social occasion unprepared. Another incident like this, and my boss will surely move me from lifestyle to... hard news. (Actually - from the exciting ma-fasyon marketing to some dark and scary place like audit, operations or msd.) And I may never see another champagne flute again.