A Freaky Tree and a Celebrity

The week started out normal enough.

We have this strange plant in our office. So I moved it into the breakroom, lightly decorated it, and called it our Christmas tree.

The employees did not like this at all.

They complained that it “got in the way.”

They even complained that it was growling at them. I was highly skeptical… until I saw the plant attempt to eat a chair.

Fine. We’ll move it to a lower-traffic area.

I didn’t want to go out and buy a tree, yet the breakroom needed something… And we couldn’t help but notice that Sue had brought in a lovely, tastefully decorated tree.

Sue adored her tree, and spent hours making minute adjustments to the tinsel.

Then she spent hours admiring her work.

We agreed with Sue: It was a great tree. Which is why we decided to move it into the breakroom when she was in the bathroom.

To soften the blow, I told Hot Mailroom Guy to dig something nice out of our storage room and bring it to Sue. You know, a little gift to say “Sorry for stealing your Christmas tree while you were in the restroom.”

He found a huge button that had writing on it, and thought that would be good enough.

I’m pretty sure the gift didn’t help.

While all this was going on, something unexpected was happening outside of the office.

My friend Shannon sent me a surprise package that arrived on Wednesday. It was…

Chachi.

Yes: Chachi. From Happy Days.

“He would be a great addition to the Hedger Corp. team,” Shannon told me when I called her.

But I had other plans in mind. I needed a personal assistant, and I could tell Chachi had promise. Indeed, that day he helped me in a number of ways – without me even asking.

He found my daughter’s missing shoe .

He helped me cut up a banana for a snack.

And the next morning he even tried to retrieve the newspaper from the front porch.

But that didn’t go very well.

Still, no matter what he was doing, he always had a smile and a willing attitude. I offered him the personal assistant job, and he accepted.

Then I introduced him to the employees, and I have to say they were  shocked. Usually celebrities are smaller than they look on screen, but in this case it was the opposite.

They couldn’t believe Chachi was actually standing in front of them. They also couldn’t believe how much denim he was wearing.

They brought over a chair for him. It was a tad small, but what are you going to do?

No one quite knew what to say to Chachi.

Safari Dan thought he could crack everyone up by asking “How’s Mrs. C?” or “Where’s Fonzie?” But he couldn’t muster the nerve to get the words out.

Finally, Chachi broke the ice by inviting all the employees to his apartment next week for some eggnog. They were all shell-shocked, but a few of them nodded, so Chachi took that as a yes. Then they all just stood there doing nothing for a long time. That’s normal, though.

A little later, after everyone dispersed, Derek approached Chachi and confessed that he was a huge fan of the “Joanie Loves Chachi” TV show, and he was crushed when it was canceled after just two abbreviated seasons.

Derek wanted to know why the ratings plummeted in season two. He wanted to know why NBC made that fateful decision to move the show to Thursdays.

Most of all, he wanted to know why Chachi’s pants were so incredibly high. “Is this a new trend?” Derek wondered. “But what happened to skinny jeans?” Derek had recently purchased a bunch of skinny jeans, thinking he would be “the stylish guy” in the office. Now he began to worry.

This morning, the office was all abuzz about Chachi’s eggnog get-together.

Sue thought she might wear her gray suit. Derek was thinking of wearing his black shirt, and maybe some ultra-high-waisted pants.

Chachi hung out in the office for most of the morning, but then I needed him to find another shoe and practice bringing the newspaper in.

Stay tuned for the eggnog party report next Friday…