I was sitting in my cube today when I heard one of my team members wish the other a happy birthday.
My team-mate is a bit of a ham, so he sang one or two lines of the song.
So I waited a few minutes and went over to the birthday boy's cube.
"So... it's your big day today?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, a little embarrassed.
"Did Joe just sing you a song?"
"Yeah, he did," he replied, getting even more embarrassed.
"OK, so that means I can too, right?"
"Uh.. yeah... I guess."
"OK," I said, turning my English accent up to full volume to remind him I'm a ferner, "here's the thing. I have this song I like to sing people on their birthdays. It's my own little tradition."
"Uh..." he said, his eyes widening.
"You have to bear with me," I went on, talking louder, making the most of the open-plan cube farm. "The song is pretty long. You up for it?"
"Uh... sure..." He had involuntarily backed up into the corner of his workspace, his back against his desk.
"JUST KIDDING!" I yelled.
All things considered, he took the joke pretty well.