I wasn't really an employee. In those days I was a contractor working for Computer Task Group. We had quite a number of contractors on staff as I recall. There were about twenty of us and we all stayed at the local La Quinta Inn. It was a fabulous place, complete with maid service, and a pool.
Well as the old moon luck would have it, our boss there was named Malcolm and he was not like you and me. You see, he was British. I must confess he was my first really non-american aquaintance. Now, I had observed other foreigners at some of our major US attractions such as Myrtle Beach. But, I had never really taken the time to talk to any of them. I found Malcolm to be a very intelligent and friendly guy and we got along famously.
We worked very hard and very long hours most of the time mainly because we were away from home and really had nothing better to do. We also played hard. One evening, we treated ourselves to a pool party. I think the occasion was that it was the second Tuesday of the month or something of that importance. We of course had plenty of beer, water in the pool, and a little beach music. Because it was South Carolina, it was summer, and we were near the water, you just had to have beach music.
We also had visitors. Several of our co-workers from the company had joined us for a cold beverage. It just so happened that Malcolm's wife was over from England and he brought her. Well, she seemed like a nice enough person and if Malcolm liked her enough to marry her, then she must be ok. She did not seem to be having a good time, so I got it in my head to try and break the ice and invite her to dance. As my friends will tell you, I've never met a stranger. So, I walked right up and asked her if she wanted to "shag". You would have thought that a dog just bitten somebody. She started screaming and didn't stop even after Malcolm and a couple of other guys had their hands on me. I don't mind saying that it scared me sober. It took some doing, but I finally explained that I had only asked her to "shag" and that I was innocent and she was insane. It was then that I was let off the hook, and Malcolm while laughing hysterically explained to me that while "shagging" in South Carolina was the state dance, it was something else entirely in Britan.