Christmas work parties.

miagi's_mommy

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Does your job have them? And if you go do you enjoy yourself?

My new job (I've been there 8 months now) is hosting one on Sunday at a fancy restaurant. The store pays for the employees' meals including appetizers, drinks (unless it's alcohol) and dessert. I hope someone will want spinach artichoke dip to share with me or the crab dip. The hot buttered garlic pretzels sound good, too. I think I am getting the steak and crab dinner and mud pie for dessert. 

You're allowed to take a +1 but you have to pay for them. We are also doing a gift exchange and drawing names tomorrow that way everyone has time to buy gifts. I'm excited, it should be a good time!
 

MoochNNoodles

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Back when my mother and I worked for the same company we had the BEST Christmas parties.  There were only 6-7 of us working in our office and we'd have our party separate from the other office.  Once we went to an upscale restaurant.  There were 6 of us at that time (all women) and none of us brought our spouses.  I dont know if I've ever laughed so much before or since.  I will never forget my boss; in one of her fanciest Christmas sweaters (read: embellished) lifted her arm and there was a good size hole right in her armpit.  Oops!  Lifted the other; yep...big hole! 
  This was really a nice place.  The kind where you have formal place settings; which of course led to discussions on which fork to use when.  Which led to more laughing.  One of my co-workers just shook her head and said she couldn't take us anywhere. 
  We did draw names to exchange gifts and sometimes had very small things for everyone else too.  We used to do pot-luck lunches and take-out for staff meetings and we always celebrated birthdays with office decorating, gifts and at least cake if not ordering lunch out too (from our own money of course).  I miss those ladies!  I know not everyone gets along with their co-workers and boss like that.  Unfortunately it didn't last and I was feeling bunt out and overwhelmed by the time my program was closed.  But most of my memories are good. 


Now I'm home with my kids so no office Christmas parties here.  This is my DH's busy season at work.  They don't have time for celebrations.  They used to give out turkeys; but even that doesn't happen anymore.  (That's just an observation; not a complaint. 
)  I think most of the employees just want to get through the season and enjoy their down time when they can get it!
 

raina21

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Well, my parents own the restaurant I work for and we always have a great employee christmas party!

We always go cosmic bowling. My parents pay for it all, food, drinks, even alcohol. And we always have some sort of seperate bowling game where if you get a strike, my dad will give you $3 a spare gets you $1.

Highest average score usually wins the "Major Award" which, in definition is based off of the Major Award from the movie A Christmas Story. It's usually just something huge and mainly useless. Haha. One year it was one of those huge 3ft tall nutcrackers, last year it was a big 4ft tall gumball machine. The whole major award thing is really kinda just a gag.

If you get a gutterball, my dad will say some sort of pun and give you a snack that matches it. Like last year he said "you SUCK" and he handed out suckers/lollipops.

We always do secret santa gifts too. But the gifts have to be at least $20 and you're not allowed to give people gift cards (its just not personal enough).

Anyway. Basically my parents pay for a night of drunken bowling for all the employees and its awesome.
 

Winchester

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We have a Christmas luncheon. I do not attend because I walk over lunch most of the time. And I'm very awkward in social situations; I don't enjoy them at all and feel very.....I don't know what the word is.....just awkward, I guess.

There are a couple women here; we call them the Food Police. They stand at the buffet and watch every little morsel that people take. And then after the luncheon is over, they'll say, "Wow, didja see how much chicken so-and-so took? No wonder he's so heavy!" Comments to that effect. I did go back one time in the afternoon with a co-worker and picked up a leftover cupcake and they made such a big deal out of. "You're gonna havta walk an extra mile to make up for eatin' that cupcake!" It's not worth it.

When I worked at the paper plant, we worked a swing-shift and worked all holidays, except for Christmas and Labor Day. And each crew had their own holiday dinners. Even if we were on third shift, we had a dinner. All the crew would get together and everybody brought something in; the guys would have their wives make side dishes and each guy would come in with 2-3 containers of food. My job was always to make the turkey or the ham (we had both....whichever I didn't do, Linda, a co-worker, would; she and I would take turns preparing the turkey and ham). And I'd bring in a huge tray of holiday cookies that I had baked. I will say that we could all cook and there was some seriously good food at those dinners. Roger worked in the maintenance department and, I want to tell you, that man made the absolute best pies I've ever had in my entire life. Geez, they were good!  His lemon meringue pie was to die for. The problem was that we would eat dinner and then nobody felt like working after! 
 

kittens mom

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My husbands company continues to host Christmas parties where there is a bar or one brought in. They never end well and we don't engage in that kind of behavior.
 

Kat0121

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My company does one on company time at work. They do a lunch and give out gifts. If they tried to do one offsite at night I would not go. I refuse to do anything work related unless I am being paid. My free time belongs to me. 

DH's boss was a total 
   

Seriously the worst. DH was a journeyman painter and did mostly very high end homes. The guy he worked for used to have a party at the shop. They HAD to go and on their own time. If they did not, he withheld their paychecks until after the holidays because he knew that if he did not, no one would go. One year, he gave DH some gourmet coffee along with some other stuff. I opened the coffee a day or so later to find what looked like large, thick spider webs in the bag on top of the grounds. Believe it or not, I didn't use the coffee. it went in the trash. A closer inspection of the bag revealed that it was long outdated. Yum. 

This man is a millionaire many times over yet his mother buys all of his clothes fro him at thrift stores. Yes- you can tell. he showed up at DH's funeral looking like he got dressed by taking clothes out of the hamper. 
 
 
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kittens mom

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My company does one on company time at work. They do a lunch and give out gifts. If they tried to do one offsite at night I would not go. I refuse to do anything work related unless I am being paid. My free time belongs to me. 

DH's boss was a total 
   

Seriously the worst. DH was a journeyman painter and did mostly very high end homes. The guy he worked for used to have a party at the shop. They HAD to go and on their own time. If they did not, he withheld their paychecks until after the holidays because he knew that if he did not, no one would go. One year, he gave DH some gourmet coffee along with some other stuff. I opened the coffee a day or so later to find what looked like large, thick spider webs in the bag on top of the grounds. Believe it or not, I didn't use the coffee. it went in the trash. A closer inspection of the bag revealed that it was long outdated. Yum. 

This man is a millionaire many times over yet his mother buys all of his clothes fro him at thrift stores. Yes- you can tell. he showed up at DH's funeral looking like he got dressed by taking out of the hamper. 
They do a gift exchange at husbands work on company time. There is always a buffet for the employees provided for each shift. The off site parties turn into drinking parties.
 

sivyaleah

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Our holiday parties vary each year.

The first year I worked here, we had dinner in a fancy restaurant, sit down style. Started with a cocktail hour and we did a Secret Santa.  Was a good way for me to get to know people I hadn't had a chance to chat much with yet.

The past couple of years we just did cocktail style - which actually was better. We're in NYC so we always try to find a new upcoming restaurant to hold them in.

This year was different.  Our company had a 25th anniversary party a couple of weeks ago for all of us with a plus 1 and some close clients and such.  Was a HUGE big deal and cost a ton of money; gifts and music and we rented a Bosco booth (it's a GIF maker, was cute to do).   So tomorrow, just to celebrate with immediate staff we booked the large conference area in the building we work in to have a few hours of hanging out; lunch and doing a Dirty Santa gift grab.  This one will be the most low key of all and I am looking forward to it.
 

foxxycat

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We don't have them anymore. But they will have a luncheon for the workers.

Big issues between the company and workers. Two years ago only 22 people signed up to go. we used to rent a big hall and have catering and a deejay. (we used to have 100+ people show up) The place was in a strip mall but it was ok. It was the best when it was at the country club. One year they had it at the Sheraton-this was the best-then back to the country club for a few years until they found that hall at the strip mall. Most people only stayed for the dinner. it was $10 a person and you got a ticket for prizes and cash-then at the end of the night you had a drawing-50/50 and half to charity and half to the winning ticket. Then most left and the rest of us stayed for dancing. (my fav thing)

 I used to freak the guys out because we only saw each other in grubby clothes-I would be like Cinderella, curl my hair, wear a slinky dress and silver shoes and had a good time dancing. I hated the dinner. I suck at social events unless there is music. If I don't have to talk-I feel more comfortable. I guess I didn't realize I was lets say the guys would pick on me because once the music started I was on the dancefloor for however long- 2 hours? we had 2 guys in the machine shop who did skits-one of them used to dance with me to Cotton Eye Joe-and I could keep up!! LOL. And I had an A line skirt then so it was easy to dance. I had a blast! Back then I was skinny so had no trouble with moving.

Those were the best...we always showed up late just in time to serve dinner. And yes I would eat two dinners. Everyone picks on me because I am the food hound. I just stick my tongue out at the guys who give me grief. I love food and I don't give a rip anymore if those catty you know whats want to make fun of me. Luckily I don't have to work with the women. I work on the shop floor with the men and we get along just fine. I hated how the women would gossip and say oh look you are a woman? Some of the guys would say hey I didn't recognize you because they have never seen me with makeup-curled hair and feminine clothes.

I miss those parties.

One of the guys dances like crazy-he is 6-4 and we just rip up the floor for 2 hours!! We had some good times. I just hate the sit down suppers because I am a slob when I eat. I often drop food or I go to bite into something and it won't break free=so I hate eating in front of people. but turn the music on and lets go!

My ex also worked for a big company and we did the Christmas parties-same thing=eat-cringe then the music cranking and I would dance. he didn't dance either. Seems I keep falling for the guys who don't dance. my next guy will have to dance-that's a requirement.

so at work here=we had a gal who made a big Chinese spread. She spent weeks prepping-She is from the Philippines and knows how to cook! She retired 4 years ago? so we miss it. She used to ask the supervisor to have a few people help her make the crab ragoons-and cook everything. I was sad to see her go.

The 3rd shift has their own thing-they have a potluck and someone on thanksgiving brought in this jalepeno cheese ball with bacon-it was the BEST. So I guess I just miss the good old days.
 
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Draco

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My company does it in a catering hall. food is good there. I've gone for the last 6 years, and each year I am usually incredibly bored. Happy hour lasts half an hour and the only time we get to socialize. at the dining area, My bosses likes to talk through the whole thing, about the company, the sales and such.. it's more of a production meeting than a party.. if there's entertainment, it's a "Hannukah Claus" in a blue Santa suit. and he's terrible, lol. If there's entertainment, they won't let anyone eat, we have to sit there for over an hour while our food gets cold. Only one year (when I first started) they had a band and we enjoyed ourselves dancing and such.

Last year I just left early, i didn't wait around for my check. it was that boring. I know I wasn't the only one who left. Plus, it doesn't help that I am an introvert and I don't like large crowds, lol.

I am not going this year. I'd rather take a half a day and do some things I need to do. it's on the 23rd this year.
 

margd

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My job used to have wonderful Christmas parties.  They were potluck and  held in the conference room of our building.  Because we were an international group, the dishes came from many different countries and were really tasty.   We raffled off a turkey every year until it was pointed out that this was technically gambling and against the rules.  One of our group used to also make a dangerous alcoholic punch that was very popular until we were reminded that alcoholic beverages were not allowed.   Once the raffle and the punch were gone, the party wasn't as much fun but there were always several puzzles to work on if you felt unsociable but wanted to eat extremely well that day.  Each table had poinsettia centerpieces which were given away as prizes to the puzzle winners so there was always the chance of going home with a reward for going to the party.   I missed the last couple of years because they started to feel a bit stale and the number of international dishes was reduced.  Still, some of those parties (especially the ones with the turkey and the punch) were actually terrific fun.  
 

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Good day to all. I am on disability. No office party. However my friend Raymond has a caregiver. They have a party each year. It is just like an office party. We had it this past Sunday night. I enjoy it.
 

neely

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BC, (before children), I worked for a major corp. in a major city and our holiday work parties were fantastic.  AC, after children, I work in a school district and our team has a grab bag gift party outside of work.  Unfortunately it's usually at a sports type bar with a million tv's and drinking, not my cup of tea at all.
   ETA, the food is usually substandard too.
 
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mollyblue

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I hate holiday parties.  I don't celebrate Holidays, I celebrate Christmas.  Once you have to start worry about offending people over what you are celebrating, it really just becomes a big commercial mess.  I have worked at the same place for ten years and my "cost of living" increase has not at all kept of with the increase in the cost of living.  It used to be that they would have jeans days once a month and you paid $5.00 to wear jeans and that money went to a specific charity of the month.  Lately no one wears jeans - so this year, in order to attend the Holiday Party you were required to purchase a $35-$50 gift or make a monetary donation to the charity in order to "attend".  I hope I am not the only one who said "I'm sorry,. due to a prior engagement I will be unable to attend this event." In case anyone is wondering, the "party" is a catered in lunch that we have to clock out to attend. 
 

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I don't celebrate holidays so I never went to any of them. But a few offices I used to work at would have a small get-together at a bar or wherever. One co-worker said "no offense, everyone, but I spend enough time with all of you and there's no way I'm going to spend MORE time with you without getting paid for it!" :lol3: So I stole that line because it's funnier than anything I could think of.
 

denice

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The company is having their's tomorrow afternoon but I'm not going.  I have been working from home for 4 1/2 years now so I don't know that many people.  They are going to a casual bar/restaurant place.  They are providing party trays of sandwiches etc and soft drinks.  This is the first year that they have done this.  They used to get trays of food from an Italian place and have it in the office.  The people in the office get 1 1/2 hours of free time off for it which we didn't get when they brought food in from the restaurant.
 

margd

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I hate holiday parties.  I don't celebrate Holidays, I celebrate Christmas.  Once you have to start worry about offending people over what you are celebrating, it really just becomes a big commercial mess.  I have worked at the same place for ten years and my "cost of living" increase has not at all kept of with the increase in the cost of living.  It used to be that they would have jeans days once a month and you paid $5.00 to wear jeans and that money went to a specific charity of the month.  Lately no one wears jeans - so this year, in order to attend the Holiday Party you were required to purchase a $35-$50 gift or make a monetary donation to the charity in order to "attend".  I hope I am not the only one who said "I'm sorry,. due to a prior engagement I will be unable to attend this event." In case anyone is wondering, the "party" is a catered in lunch that we have to clock out to attend. 
This doesn't sound like a Holiday or a Christmas party.  Those are held on company time, as a gift to the employees.  And why should employees be forced to pay $5.00 to wear jeans?  The whole thing sounds fishy. I'd really wonder if the head of the company is associated with the charity in some way and if they are the ones getting the tax write-off.    That's just my suspicious mind, though.   As for calling them Holiday parties - this doesn't bother me because that way the "tent" is big enough to include people of lots of religions who can then relate the party to their own faith.  I went to our Holiday Party and celebrated Christmas while Jewish staff went to the same party and honored Hanukkah.  The alternative is to hold multiple parties and that's just impractical.
 

Kat0121

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This doesn't sound like a Holiday or a Christmas party.  Those are held on company time, as a gift to the employees.  And why should employees be forced to pay $5.00 to wear jeans?  The whole thing sounds fishy. I'd really wonder if the head of the company is associated with the charity in some way and if they are the ones getting the tax write-off.    That's just my suspicious mind, though.   As for calling them Holiday parties - this doesn't bother me because that way the "tent" is big enough to include people of lots of religions who can then relate the party to their own faith.  I went to our Holiday Party and celebrated Christmas while Jewish staff went to the same party and honored Hanukkah.  The alternative is to hold multiple parties and that's just impractical.
Yeah that charity thing is annoying. Our company has a foundation and they are always badgering us to sign up for automatic withdrawals from our checks to go to it. NO. NO. NO. NO, I give to charities whose cause I believe in. When you give to a foundation, the money goes to A) a charity THEY believe in or B) towards "administrative costs" with a few dollars here and there actually going towards a charity- again- of their choice. 

They NEVER give to charities that benefit animals. Those are the ones I support and I give to them or donate things to be sold on their behalf myself. They can stick their foundation in their eye IMO 
 

mollyblue

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I don't really get upset if someone says Happy Holidays to me, especially  if its someone I don't know. Like you, the Jewish people I know don't really mince words about it either, if you say Merry Christmas and they respond with Happy Hanukkah everyone smiles and is happy and goes their merry way.  In years past (way past I guess) when I was younger, people shared traditions from whatever they call their holiday, but they were not offended.  It was new, it was different, it was educational.  That's how I know about  so many things that are not a part of my personal Christmas celebration!  The company I work for has just gotten too big and doesn't want to step on any immigrants toes... be them immigrant customers, or employees. 
 
This doesn't sound like a Holiday or a Christmas party.  Those are held on company time, as a gift to the employees.  And why should employees be forced to pay $5.00 to wear jeans?  The whole thing sounds fishy. I'd really wonder if the head of the company is associated with the charity in some way and if they are the ones getting the tax write-off.    That's just my suspicious mind, though.   As for calling them Holiday parties - this doesn't bother me because that way the "tent" is big enough to include people of lots of religions who can then relate the party to their own faith.  I went to our Holiday Party and celebrated Christmas while Jewish staff went to the same party and honored Hanukkah.  The alternative is to hold multiple parties and that's just impractical.
Yeah, they are random charities.. like the gifts in exchange for the party were to go to Shining Star or Wishing Tree, which are through the Salvation Army or I forget who the other one.  For the monthly charities, you can nominate a charity for consideration, and then some committee narrows it down- pretty sure the firm is getting a tax deduction since they submit the collection, but its really more of wanting to get their name out there in connection doing something "for the community" at no cost to them.  I get they want us to take civic duty seriously and we should be grateful for what we have and be willing to help those less fortunate and all that, but its all just a big bunch of bs the way they do it.  We also get 2 hours per quarter (paid) to go serve a charity (usually takes 4 hours)... one lady works for Ronald McDonald House and has become a big supporter of them.  OR we can fill snack-packs through harvesters to distribute to children who might not have enough food on weekends when they do not get free lunch from school.  It's no so much that they call it a Holiday Party... I was okay with that at first, I am curious about what others believe and the ways in which they celebrate and its nice to share traditions with each other.. I'm either just getting old, or it has just become one huge generic commercial mess.   
 
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