"You'd like Stan and Peggy. You might even like Ken. There're a lot of them you won't like, but that's okay, because it'll give us something to talk about after the party's over and we judge just how drunk and stupid everyone got, and you try to figure out how I can stand working with some of those people day in and day out."

Sometimes realizing just how ridiculous everyone at work is is what keeps him going through the motions every day. He likes the creativity of his job, likes that there're actually some people he enjoys working with, but he can't help but clash with some of the executive team; he's never been good at pretending to get along with people when he doesn't. It helps to be around people -- people like Ned, he thinks -- who're a little offbeat, who would probably find some of his coworkers just as irritating as he did.

He glances over towards the door again, noticing the way Ned flinches, wondering what it is about Halloween that has him so obviously upset. There's no way he could miss the discomfort and tension in Ned's every movement. "I think you're probably a freak in some ways, yeah. Most people are. I know I am. Overall, I'd say you're generally less freaky than I am, but more freaky than some people, too. Which is okay, because some people are boring. You fit somewhere in the continuum of freaky, just like everyone else."