Every now and again at work, things get exciting when we all go out to lunch for someone's birthday. (This has happened already three times this year! Whoo-hoo!) I am always torn about whether to go -- including for my own birthday lunch, which happened in January -- because sometimes it takes a lot of energy to sit at lunch with these people. Lots of energy to make conversation and lots of energy to keep the resentment at bay to prevent bursting out with, "Is this really all we want? Is this really all that we want to be? This? Really?"

But in the end, I can't really give up the opportunity to lose two hours of the day. Even if it is, as on Friday, at Applebee's.

Applebee's. God. Again, we don't even try to not be a cliché around here.