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Dreading the Xmas office party?

Hitchens

Ours is coming up in early December. Am I in a minority when I say I look forward to it?

A colleague was telling me the other day that "he dreads the whole flippin' idea of it".

Any thoughts on it?

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Dirty Dingus McGee

I've never gone to one and never will go to one.

Mint Aero

The chrimbo party will be our third office party of the year. Following the first one which I dunno what it was in aid of and then the summer one. They're good craic. Free transport to a nice city. Slap up meal, drinks, what's the problem OP?

Kevin McCloud

Big problems indeed.

Cee-Jay-Cee

UCDVet wrote: »

I like to keep my work separate from everything else. Work is a business transaction, I give them hours of my time, they give me money. If you complicate it with personal attachments, it just gets messy. I've known so many people who stay in a crappy job or deal with a crappy boss because they feel a personal attachment to some co-workers or some boss or the owner or the customers.

In fact, companies spend a lot of money to try and artificially promote bonds between co-workers for exactly this reason. Team outings, summer parties, bring you children days, Christmas parties....it's all meant to make you feel like you are 'part of something'.

Naturally, the flip-side doesn't hold. When it's time to fire people to improve the bottom line; the soulless company will be happy to let you go.

It happens all the time. So and so worked his or her ass off for years, always helping out, pitching in, going above and beyond and feeling like he or she was apart of the company. And then the company fires them or shuts down their office because the handful of rich people running it can afford a 4th summer home by offshoring the jobs somewhere else.

Screw Christmas parties.
I have friends and family that I'll party with.

You sound like a real barrel of laughs. I'll bet no one is hoping you come to the Xmas party this year.

K.Flyer

Mint Aero wrote: »

....
They're good craic. Free transport to a nice city. Slap up meal, drinks, what's the problem OP?

O.P. doesn't have a problem, O.P. was asking if, by looking forward to the Christmas party, were they in the minority.

Hitchens wrote: »

Ours is coming up in early December. Am I in a minority when I say I look forward to it?

Any thoughts on it?

Icaras

I feel sorry for people who can't go out and have a few enjoyable drinks with the people they work with. If you dislike them all that much how do you get through the rest of the year?

Ted_YNWA

Titzon Toast wrote: »

I'm self employed these days, I haven't thrown myself a Christmas party yet.
Maybe this year I'll head into town, get pissed, and feel myself up on the way home.

Be careful you don't tell the boss what you really think of him.

I would be good friends with a number of work colleagues & regularly go drinking with them on non-work organised events.

[Deleted User]

UCDVet wrote: »

I like to keep my work separate from everything else. Work is a business transaction, I give them hours of my time, they give me money. If you complicate it with personal attachments, it just gets messy. I've known so many people who stay in a crappy job or deal with a crappy boss because they feel a personal attachment to some co-workers or some boss or the owner or the customers.

In fact, companies spend a lot of money to try and artificially promote bonds between co-workers for exactly this reason. Team outings, summer parties, bring you children days, Christmas parties....it's all meant to make you feel like you are 'part of something'.

Naturally, the flip-side doesn't hold. When it's time to fire people to improve the bottom line; the soulless company will be happy to let you go.

It happens all the time. So and so worked his or her ass off for years, always helping out, pitching in, going above and beyond and feeling like he or she was apart of the company. And then the company fires them or shuts down their office because the handful of rich people running it can afford a 4th summer home by offshoring the jobs somewhere else.

Screw Christmas parties.
I have friends and family that I'll party with.

Completely disagree tbh. I very much like making good friends with the people I work with. Any job I've been in I've made good friends who i would regularly go out with. These are the people you spend many hours everyday with I would find it very very difficult not to become friends them.

For me work people are the friends I party with.

Mint Aero

K.Flyer wrote: »

O.P. doesn't have a problem, O.P. was asking if, by looking forward to the Christmas party, were they in the minority.

Fair play, I forgot what the Op was by the time I read all the other miserable crap.

To Elland Back

I hate the thing and won't be going to ours and haven't done so for many years. They are my colleagues and I get on well with most of them, but they are not my friends. Work is what I do and my family and friends are separate.

I've yet to go to a work function where it didn't end bad for at least one person and then you have to spend the rest of the year in awkward conversation. I'd happily have a pint with any one of my colleagues, but I wouldn't want to be with a big group of them.

Hitchens

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I've never gone to one and never will go to one.

never say never........................maybe you might like it?

Titzon Toast

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

Be careful you don't tell the boss what you really think of him.

I would be good friends with a number of work colleagues & regularly go drinking with them on non-work organised events.

Same as that, I've gone out at Christmas time with previous jobs a few times and always had a blast.
I don't think you can truly know someone until you've gotten pissed with them!

ClovenHoof

I am self employed bow but I dreaded the Christmas office party.

The unspoken class system and department sectarianism in only compounded by the obnoxious groupings.

YbFocus

I have never had one and this will be my first.
I must say this doesn't build much confidence

Soft Falling Rain

I keep telling people that I'm organising my own xmas party in response to how sh1t these things are. Problem is that I can't compete with the free gargle.

Hitchens

YbFocus wrote: »

I have never had one and this will be my first.

I'd be very careful in that case!

tomwaterford

Gannon Flat Crayon wrote: »

No not at all, aside from my friends at home who I grew up with its some of the people I work with who have ended up being my main group of friends, so I look on them as friends I work with rather than work colleagues and would be out on the beer with them or doing things with them, visitng their houses etc regularly. There are lots of other sound people then who I only get a chance to have a proper chat with at work nights (which are admittedly very regular, probably something on at least once a month) and I enjoy that aspect also and the vast majority of people including bosses couldn't give a damn how drunk people get etc.

Of course there are people you don't want to get stuck talking too but they are easy enough avoid.

your are lucky so...its just the people I work with...ive little or nothing in common with them
there all like married with kids etc...jesus even the two lads my age have kids....there none of them have any real interests outside of work....all they talk about is how much they hate there parthners and how boring there lives are etc and who they are doing the dirt on therparthners with (well admittedly that's just one lad...and I think its prue bull tbh)

suicide_circus

My workplace is mad for cringe-inducing organised mandatory "craic". Dreadful stuff. Just let me turn up, do my job and go home, that's all I ask.

cazzer22

Looking forward to mine. We're heading to the Laughter Lounge :-)

Sunnyisland

I used to love the Christmas partys, they were always fun, and yes some people did make a show of themselfs and yes we talked about them the for the next three months,but **** it we are only human,

Remember one time at the employees only free drink party,one of the men through himself into the canal, I kid you not, my father jumped in and saved him and got him out,when my father went out to his house the next day to see was he ok,the mans children there said are you the man our daddy saved...

ted1

UCDVet wrote: »

But all things are never equal.

It's rarely ever the case that a company says, 'Well, we have a successful business and 50 employees, but we really only can afford 49. Let's fire the guy with the least amount of persona relationships....'

Either someone is under-performing and will be let go, regardless....or, more likely, the company as a whole is under-performing or making a strategic realignment or whatever and entire teams/offices all get let go.

Get rid of the bad apple who doesn't interact with the group. Don't promote the loner, promote the guy you have a good working relationship with.
You sound like a nightmare to work with.

UCDVet

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

You sound like a real barrel of laughs. I'll bet no one is hoping you come to the Xmas party this year.

That's not very nice. I could just as easily make fun of the people who have no 'real friends' and think a night out with the coworkers is a real party....but I'm a nice guy.

Believe it or not, I get along quite well with my coworkers. I just don't feel the need to hang out with them after work as part of a semi-mandatory company sponsored event. I have, especially when I was younger, made personal friends with a few co-workers and we did hang out, outside of work. But that was of our own accord, when we felt like doing so.

boobar

I don't normally attend work events, but this year I'm going to.

I've a family get together the same night that I'm trying to avoid.

UCDVet

ted1 wrote: »

Get rid of the bad apple who doesn't interact with the group. Don't promote the loner, promote the guy you have a good working relationship with.
You sound like a nightmare to work with.

I'd disagree. The people who are the hardest to work with are inevitably the ones who tried and failed to form meaningful connections. Like the guy who got too drunk and made a pass at his co-worker during the office party....or the girl who pretends to be really nice, but immediately complains about being forced to spend time with someone she doesn't like.

I interact fine with my co-workers and I have very good *WORKING* relationships with them. A chat about the weekend on Monday is fine enough, I don't need to be out for drinks on the weekend with my workers to feel like I fit in.

Remmy

I have one coming up soon. I don't drink anymore except for the odd glass of wine with meals. I'm going to have to figure out how to look like I have a drink in my hand the whole night without actually drinking.

[Deleted User]

Well now!

I'll have a boozy work lunch with my department, the sports and social night out, and a party night with my work friends. I'll enjoy all of them because I love where I work, and I love [most of] the people I work with.

The boozy lunch won't be more than a couple of pints for me, and I'll likely not drink at the others because I'm not drinking all that much these days generally.

Tbh, I'd go to the opening of an envelope

Tell me how

Yellowblackbird wrote: »

Can't argue with free healthy nutrition.
Beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support.

Yellowblackbird = Dwight Schrute

Aglomerado

I used to love them, when I worked with a bigger team. We always had the craic. For the last 3 years I've been working in a very small area and the Christmas party is now a lunch - back to work afterwards (I usually have a couple of the strongest beers they serve regardless).

Because there are so few of us now, the risk of sitting near the boring / smelly/ bragging colleagues for the lunch is high. I'm hoping another unit we work closely with will ask us to join them this year because there are a lot more of them and some of them are great fun.

dundalkfc10

Remmy wrote: »

I have one coming up soon. I don't drink anymore except for the odd glass of wine with meals. I'm going to have to figure out how to look like I have a drink in my hand the whole night without actually drinking.

Are you a child FFS? Just tell them you dont drink much/arenot having any that night

Skerries

Titzon Toast wrote: »

I'm self employed these days, I haven't thrown myself a Christmas party yet.
Maybe this year I'll head into town, get pissed, and feel myself up on the way home.

I know a self employed plumber who once a year at xmas puts on a suit and goes to his local and has his work party