Who is the 'True Hero' of the Return-to-Office Day?

Ugh, it's my turn to run the Return-to-Office Day this month...

Return-to-Office Day is a day once a month when employees who usually work on-site at client offices gather at the company office.

We eat sushi, pizza, and desserts provided by the company, drink alcohol or soft drinks, and deepen our connections with colleagues we haven't seen in a while or don't often get the chance to talk to.

Sometimes, we even hold events like darts, table tennis, raffles, or food and drink tasting comparisons.

The staff on duty plan the food and events for that month, and on the day itself, they handle everything from preparation to hosting and cleanup.

There are about 10 members in total, divided into groups of about 3, and we rotate the responsibility once every three months.

Well, it's basically volunteer work for the operations staff.

To be clear from the start, I'm the type of person who doesn't like to participate in workplace drinking parties.

If it were a major annual event like the New Year's party in January or the welcome party for new employees in April, that would be one thing, but I'd rather go home early and curl up in my futon than attend a Return-to-Office Day held every single month.

Actually, I've never been good with large gatherings to begin with.

I do have some desire to see colleagues I rarely meet, but the New Year's party and the new employee welcome party are enough for that.

So, regarding being on the operations staff, I'm just doing it because I have to. I have zero interest in planning or preparing.

I'm happy to be able to choose the food, but events are too much of a hassle, and I don't even feel like holding one during my assigned month. Someone else can do it in other months.
I'll do the bare minimum, finish the day without any issues, and get out of there as fast as I can!

Since the staff on duty have to handle the cleanup, I have to try hard to kill time until it's over, but during my shift just the other day, I started to feel something for the first time.

The chatter around me is noisy.

Well, I suppose it's inevitable that things get noisy when alcohol is involved, but even so, it's seriously loud.

I've been in charge of organizing the Company Return Day many times before, but for some reason, things that never bothered me much until now have started to really get on my nerves.

So, thinking "I can just come back when it's time to clean up," I escaped to the quiet, empty room next door.
It got a little better.

That level of intensity might have been fine when I was in my early twenties, but for someone like me who is almost thirty, it's just too much...
There are a lot of young people in their first or second year at the company, and it's good that they have energy.
As long as I'm not the one getting dragged into it.

Well, I'm doing my best as a member of the organizing committee while grumbling to myself like this, but honestly, I think the ones who contribute the most to smooth operations aren't us staff members, but the General Affairs department who handle the ordering.

Due to billing processes and credit card entry requirements, the two people in General Affairs place every order for the food we plan each time.

On top of that, they prepare snacks, paper plates, cups, and chopsticks for each table every time, and they even handle the cleanup.

We rotate the duty once every three months, but those two do it every single month... I truly take my hat off to them...

They really feel like true professionals.
I admire them so much~~~😌 I really, truly hope they get the recognition they deserve.