Cracker Vetter

There are many responsibilities in organizing a party, large responsibilities, small responsibilities, and teeny details. Just yesterday, for instance, someone came in to ask whether she should bring tunafish as her pot luck offering. Trying, unsuccessfully, to conceptualize this in bite-size-snack form, I told her, "Uh, if you want to . . . sure." Apparently sensing my hesitation, she suggested crackers, which I readily agreed were a handy and necessary accessory to many foods at a party--cheese, for instance, goes well with a cracker. She then went on to explain that she has some crackers just sitting in her cupboard, which were the wrong ones from what she meant to buy, so she could just bring them in. Okay. As this conversation progressed, I was starting to feel like I was collecting unused canned goods and other items for needy families.

So this morning, this same woman brought in her cracker offering. I thought she was just depositing them with me until party time, but apparently she just wanted to get my thumbs up on the type of crackers. As they were Ritz, I declared them to be sufficient. And these types of executive-level decisions are the reason why I'm getting my own office.