Once we finish all the normal business, the manager always asks "Are the any By-The-Ways". This is where we bring up any time off requests, last minute changes in schedule, or just random things the whole group needs (or doesn't need) to know. And today.. we were all just a bit wacky, a little out of our minds. It's been a busy week, we have all been hitting the deadlines and working hard. This left us really loopy and very giggly. As simple questions were asked, the barbs and jokes would fly from someone in the room, sending us all into fits of laughter.
Then one of my co-workers, who is just one of the nicest people, cracked about her actually being a criminal and having a record, the thought of which sent us all into a hysterical fit (you just had to be there) but suddenly a light came on above another co-workers head. She immediately started digging through her purse and exclaimed "That reminds me! I have been meaning to ask you all something!" She then proceeds to pull a can of Mace out of her purse. Still laughing uncontrollably about the previous joke, we looked up to hear our manager state in his laughing, but trying to control himself voice "What is that?! Don't you know that stuff is illegal?! (which only got us laughing harder.. the thought of our co-worker with her Mace in her purse)
Then she replied "Really? I have just had this in my purse for years and I don't know if it still works. How do I find out?"
Now came the problem... as we had all been laughing so hard, another co-worker didn't fully understand what she was holding, or the true question. She simply saw it as a generic aerosol can. So she grabbed it and said "That's simple! You just press down here." PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH! Out spays Mace.
Now for those who may not know. Let's look up the official definition of Mace, the wonder spray once used by women everwhere for self defense: "a chemical compound, prepared for use in aerosol containers, that has the combined effect of a tear gas and a nerve gas, temporarily stunning its victims". Yup.. we effectively tear gassed ourselves at our own staff meeting. Nice!
Most of us were still laughing out loud over the previous jokes, as well as this sudden and completely random turn of events, while also saying to ourselves "wait, did that just happen as I saw it?" This laughter and shock mechanism managed to delay what should have been our "drop to the floor and cover yout face" reaction and instead, we all just sat there laughing, thinking "wait... what?!". That's when the Mace fumes actually hit us like a ton of bricks.
Fast forward 10 seconds and the whole scene changed. People were running out of the room, mouths covered, coughing like crazy, people crawled under the table to escape the room. Out into the hall we all poured, some coughing most still laughing. Eyes were watering, tongues stung... nasty stuff.
After I had a chance to collect myself, make sure everyone was ok and there were no serious problems (as I didn't really want to explain to my own wife, the campus health and safety manager, what had happened) I had to figure out what to do. This was a unique situation.. one that called for an attention getting response. So what did I do? I decided to create a public service campaign, to keep us safe for the next time, by making a series of "demotivational posters" to commemorate the event. The following are actually hanging in or break room, as a constant reminder:
I'm sure my co-workers appreciate it!
