Office Bah Humbug

So why is it that at Christmas time that the office powers that be, often aided and abbeted by a couple of 'bubbly' staff members, mandate a state of office joy? Overnight decorations went up here, it looks like a stoned elf threw up. :rolleyes:

And the office party.
Why force a group of people whos only common factor is that they spend their day eeking out a living within the same building, to get together on a social level. If they wanted to share common interests or company outside the office they would.
I have a family and friends that I want to spend my time with.

Open your heart, spread the feeling of good will to all, make a special effort to show the ones you love and care for that you do indeed love and care for them.
But not at the point of the bosses gun, not because you 'should', or not because you would feel guilty if you didn't, but because you want to.

Happy holiday, what ever you believe in, may the peace and love of another person touch you, and may you touch another person. :)






geeez am I in a weird mood ??? :confused:

Totally agree Dave, I am not going to any of the six or seven xmas parties at my place because I have no desire to spend time with most of the people I work with, I'd rather spend it with my family.

I declined one such invitation last night and put up and decorated our xmas tree with SWMBO and the kids a much more satisfying experience although admittedly not stress free.:D

HH.

Work Christmas parties can be OK but I know what you mean about the false cheeriness etc. The company I work for are good all year around so I attend the staff functions.

If I worked for some other companies I would not participate in the annual pretence.

I try not to miss our office Christmas party, although I'm 500km away from the office, if I can make it I do. We usually have a good time - partners are invited and the company picks up the tab. Last year we went to a restaurant and then to a pub. This year there's a rumour it might be at a resort in Bowral.

It's a small firm (two bosses, four employees) and I enjoy their company. There's no false cheeriness about it. Business as usual before, during and after. No decorations generally. They cut a bit of slack for long lunches etc. though.

In my office (where I spend my days) there'll be no decorations or office parties. I think it would be a bit sad if I sat here by myself drinking punch and trying to chat myself up. :D

I don't go to the organisations party. I do attend the departmental party though, mainly because it's held in office hours. :D

What I can't handle though is the idea of going to the wife's office party.

I mean sitting around listening to a lot of people you don't know talk shop?

I'd rather stick pins in my face.

Fortunately, the missus sees my point so I don't have to go.

She probably also figures she'd have a better time without old misery guts hanging around. :rolleyes: :D

I stopped going to the company Christmas party 5 years ago when they stopped inviting partners. I understand it is very expensive to invite 500 employees and 500 partners. But family members need to be thanked for their hard work too. Who looks after the kids when you are staying back in the office?

I do enjoy our department party though. It is smaller, partners and kids are invited. It is always great to meet each other’s family members.
:)

Interesting.

I've never considered working with people I don't get along with.

As an employer for the best part of 25 years, if I thought someone wouldn't be an assett at a Christmas Party, I'd fire 'em.

On the rare occasions (like now) when I am in someone else's employ, I wouldn't stay with the company if I couldn't enjoy a party with the people with whom I work!

Life's too short!

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

Problem is midge the money is too good and pays for our toys like new tools. Also in large companies you're never gonna like everyone.

HH.

Have to admit I never came across "fun at parties" in the job descriptions of any of my past jobs. It's more good luck than anything else if you happen to end up working with people that you actually get along with. Imagine the cases before the tribunals if you started firing people who didn't enjoy your christmas parties ;)

Don't get me wrong - this isn't about the people I work with. Some of my best friends are past work mate who shared a common interest. The people I work with now are good people, they work well together and they know their stuff. That makes them good colleagues but not good friends.

I do attend family days with work, zoo, circus, etc but only because my family will enjoy it.

On a related bit of Bah Humbug, got accosted with my first carol of the season this morning when I got off the train.

It was the Salvo brass band doing "Good King Wencelas" :(

Christmas Carols suck.

Why aren't there ever any new ones?

Boycott Xmas :)

xmasresistance.org

Christmas parties are very educational. It at these events that you get to see the real people that you work with, especially when you add a little alcohol. This can be quite funny because it gives you a lot of ammunition for the new Year!!!!

One of the most annoying office xmas things is the secret santa. For those not in the know, everyone at work is randomly allocated a colleague to buy a crappy (around $10) xmas present for. The presents are then given, usually by the boss or the social organiser, at the staff xmas party.

It makes me cringe.

Well, I guess Christmas is just like everything else in life. Some love it, some hate it, some don't care. Some go out of their way to convince everyone else that their way of looking at it is right.

It's also like a lot of other things in life in that you can make of it what you will. You can choose to ignore it. You can choose to go over the top.

A friend of ours was in the Sydney Telegraph the other day - you may have seen him. He enters the Christmas lights competition every year. He starts hanging lights in July. He asks for donations to the Make a Wish foundation when people come to see them and he raises thousands every year. They have to make his street one way for 3-4 weeks leading up to Christmas.

I choose to have a bit of fun, drink a lot, eat a lot, and buy a few things for the family. Maybe they didn't want them and will throw them away, maybe they will keep them. I don't know. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Just about everything you can think of these days is a marketing opportunity for someone. Births, deaths, weddings, going on holiday, coming home from holiday, starting school, finishing school. Christmas is just another one of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaveInOz

Happy holiday, what ever you believe in, may the peace and love of another person touch you, and may you touch another person. :)

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OOooooooh I can think of lots of people to touch. :D ;) http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_3_7.gif

Think yerselves lucky you have a staff or department xmas party . The bustard I work for is too tight to spring for one.

our work is moving in 2 weeks so cant put deco's up .. hooray.

had a dept party last week on the harbour which i couldnt attend, but the company one is coming up soon apparently but the genius over in the US has banned alcohol from it so they arent liable ... not that I have ever attended a company one but the alcohol would make it bearable atleast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silentC

A friend of ours was in the Sydney Telegraph the other day - you may have seen him. He enters the Christmas lights competition every year. He starts hanging lights in July. He asks for donations to the Make a Wish foundation when people come to see them and he raises thousands every year. They have to make his street one way for 3-4 weeks leading up to Christmas.

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Was he also on tv the other day? saw some guy whose house was covered and filled with lights and stuff. He was donating to make a wish also. One of the light setup was a champagne glass with a bottle tipping champagne into it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silentC

A friend of ours was in the Sydney Telegraph the other day - you may have seen him. He enters the Christmas lights competition every year. He starts hanging lights in July. He asks for donations to the Make a Wish foundation when people come to see them and he raises thousands every year. They have to make his street one way for 3-4 weeks leading up to Christmas.

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I wonder which he finds more satisfying; spreading xmas cheer or being a very very minor celebrity for a couple of weeks a year?

Craig McScrooge

Brett, that's the one. In Lugarno.

Craig, I would say, knowing the guy, that being a celebrity is low on his list of priorities. It's more likely to be motivated by a desire to win the competition - at least it would have started that way. The prizes aren't that great (overseas holidays etc) but it would be the challenge to beat the competition that drives him.

We lived in Lugarno a couple of years ago and they had a local council meeting to discuss his lights. A lot of people wanted them shut down because of the disruption caused by the traffic. We are talking queues that are more than a kilometer long. People wait for more than an hour to drive past his house. An absolute bugger if you live there and you're trying to get home from work. The council put up signs: "if you are here, delay is 30 minutes" etc. They make his street one way and the council sells vendor permits to Mr Whippy vans. Riverwood police station have a copper on duty there every night. The council put restrictions on the number of nights and the duration of each 'show'.

I would say that now he is motivated more by the fact that people are telling him a) you can't possibly make it bigger than last year and b) your neighbours want you to stop. Never tell him he can't do something ;)

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Originally Posted by outback

Think yerselves lucky you have a staff or department xmas party . The bustard I work for is too tight to spring for one.

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I was quite bemused to find that the company pays for the christmas party here. Everywhere I worked in the UK they let you take the time off for the party for free ( although they might encourage an evening event to get out of this ) and the staff pay for their own party.

you guys don't know where you're well off. The same deal went for tea and coffee - usually a group of workers got together and chipped in to buy the stuff for the group's use only. The company provided the water.

I think this very much depends upon who you work for. Here's an example of some of the companies I've worked for:

Commonwealth Bank:
Pay into a fortnightly Social Club - this subsidises the Christmas Party
Pay into a weekly coffee fund - this pays for the tea, coffee, milk and biscuits.
Both organised by the staff.

AMPlus (Andersen Consulting/AMP):
Christmas party and weekly drinks paid for
Tea, coffee, milk, biscuits provided

AVCO (now GE Capital):
What Tea room?
What Christmas Party?

Westpac Institutional Banking:
What Tea room?
What Christmas Party?

Work Christmas parties went downhill with the loss of typing pools and the inclusion of security doors on fire stairs! :mad:

Seriously, it seems that the quality of work parties is directly proportional to morale during the year and the quality of the employer. I'm off to SWMBO's work do tonight - at the boss's home, all food & drinks supplied, all spouses invited. Going on it's record, this will be a good one.

Jackie,

My experience is as follows :

Bank - Branch office party paid out of the tellers under/over tins. Statewide party heavily subsidised by the bank leaving us to pay an entry fee equivalent to the cost of a beer.

Restaurant - Everyday meals and drinks provided as per package. No christmas party, as we were to busy, but instead we were given a 2 weeks boating holiday on the Murray all expenses paid. I knew every pub and boat mechanic along that river. :D

Accounting firm - Dinner , with spouses, at a restaurant.

Golf club - Statewide combined golf clubs office staff party paid for including taxi fares. Regional office staff breakfast paid for and staff golf day and party with the committee fully paid for.

And at no place have I ever had to put in for coffee. :D


Peter.

I;m always confused by hte annual talk of shenanigans that go on at Xmas parties and how to avoid it. All of my Xmas parties (3 employees) have been so unearably boring. If only someone would photocopy their jatz crackers or abuse the boss.......................

Thank God I'm out of all that. :D

Did have one boss who sprang for most functions throughout the year - even perfume for the missus :) An Ozzie co privately owned. Still I used to have to avoid the dickheads you knew had a shortage of neurones to synapse. :rolleyes:

The balance of companies didn't worry about morale - there wasn't any so no problem :o People had to bring their own and the hangers on would steal everyone else's :mad:

Now my Norwegian wife prepares a traditional Norwegian Christmas meal on Christmas eve and we sit around the tree afterwards and swap presents. Christmas Day is leisurely and the family sit around a long lunch - prawns, cray, ham, more prawns, this year it looks like it might be on the Tweed in the old Mustang Cruiser :D

Bah Humbug to the good old days :eek:

So when and where is the Woodwork Forums "Do" this year???

:confused: :confused: :confused:

P

Ooohh I can't wait :eek:

The 10 year old got out his hard earned $25.00 today and started his Christmas shopping. He knew exactly what he wanted and asked his way around Target, Crazy Clarks etc leading SWMBO a merry dance, had all the staff bristling with "Isn't he cute" and at the checkout in Target he asks for a brown paper bag to put the item in so Mum won't see what he's bought ;) :confused:

What's more he flamin got it - haven't seen brown paper bags in department stores since Santa played Full Back for the eskimos :eek: :eek: :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bitingmidge

As an employer for the best part of 25 years, if I thought someone wouldn't be an assett at a Christmas Party, I'd fire 'em.


P
:D :D :D

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Ho ho frekin ho. :D

Al :D

Well you lot all seem to have it pretty good for the Christmas parties. Australia Post MAY allow us to go 5 minutes early on Christmas eve but if you want a party then join a club and pay for it yourself.

Oh yes, they closed the susidised canteen and got in sub contractors about 6 years ago.

Gee you lot have it hard. I work for myself, by myself and I'm too flamin' stingy to buy myself christmas drinks. I'd hit the boss only I gave up self flagellation for lent and got used to not having wounds. Mind you, the scars do itch a bit. I was saving up for a bottle of chrissy scotch but they had the stuff out on special in nov so I bought it then and drank it last week.

Buuuutttttt,
back in the days when I was considered a genuine member of the public service (before they caught me working one day), our section had a christmas party every year. One year, a supervisor was observed getting very friendly with one of the drafting staff. Funnily enough, when he got the top job about six months later, this witch was promoted from lower level semi-worker to one of the ruling clique and six months after that, a special position was created that gave her similar power to his own. But nothing was going on between them ...

A friend of mine worked for a prominant building comp and was told to turn up for do xmas do or get sacked. He didn't turn up as well as one other, they both got sacked. MERRRY XMAS!

I f the boss gave you a party nowdays you would be up for fringe benefits tax. Best not to have parties.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ribot

A friend of mine worked for a prominant building comp and was told to turn up for do xmas do or get sacked. He didn't turn up as well as one other, they both got sacked. MERRRY XMAS!

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Sounds to me like an excellent opportunity for a wromgful dismissal case. :)

We are not having a party this year, the boss said we can't afford it. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he is taking his two kids, and his girlfriend and her three kids to England for a seven week holiday. :rolleyes: