Ain’t it fun being the grown-up?
“Let’s schedule bjohn13 for Saturday - he’s the only one who isn’t going to stay up all night getting ruined at the company party.”
And I would be surprised if anything serious is done to make it up to you. Companies that need a non-drinker around to carry the ball for the rest of the drunks on the payroll don’t usually think in those terms.
Wish there were something more we could say than “That sux”.
Regards,
Shodan
What Ca3799 said. In my vast experience with working, taking one for the company is almost universally ignored. Do try to get some restitution for this very unfair situation, but if nothing is done, make a mental black mark against this company. That was a crappy way to treat a good employee (heck, any employee).
Um, finishing my thought about mental black marks, you decide how many constitutes a “well, let’s get my resume updated and go fishing.”
bjohn13- I don’t know the size of your company, but most companies with at least 20 or so employees have a Human Resources department, even if it’s just one person. It’s the job of HR to take care of injustices like this. I would plant myself in front of the HR director’s desk and calmly explain what happened- they are probably already aware, but you seem to present it to the board with the proper emotional detachment that you would need to avoid being labeled by the company as an alarmist.
HR departments usually have a direct line of communication to the legal department of the company- again, if your company is large enough. The litigation-happy nature of employees these days tends to make corporate legal departments rather cautious about employee injustice. You might not get much satisfaction about what happened this year, but you may be the reason it doesn’t ever happen again.
Stand up for yourself. Good luck.
bjohn13, who was the senior company officer present at the party? Was your boss also present? Your boss should have accepted the prize on your behalf. Write to both of them and state what happenned and how disappointed you feel, but put it professionally. Do state why you had to leave early. Don’t threaten anything.
Hmm. We have 20+ responses and all of them are supportive. It looks like your predictions of all these assholes showing up in the thread fell a wee bit short. By my count there was only one person making a jackass statment in this tread. Look in the mirror, pal.
Haj
Since your job was so important that the company had to have someone cover it at 6:30 AM on a Saturday plus four more people at 8 AM, go ahead and write up the person whom you had to send home for being too drunk to work. The usual advisories about proper references to company policy and about professional attitude apply in spades.
You’re not taking your shitty situation out on the drunken sot. No, your beef is with the company. You played by the rules and got screwed out of half the party and $500, the company played by the rules and assigned people to morning shifts on a weekend the day after the party, the people who showed up drunk should play by the rules too.
Acutally, now that I’ve written that, go ahead and write up the other people for being drunk on the job.
If the company really wanted your job covered to professional standards, they shouldn’t have a late party with an open bar.
That’s fucking outrageous.
Write a polite letter saying exactly what you’ve just said (without any vitriol), and send it to the CEO. I’d also suggest that a nice gesture for someone who sacrificed their enjoyment for the betterment of the company might have been to say “bjohn13 isn’t here because he’s working tomorrow. So it’s pretty cool that he won the draw. We’ll give him his prize at work tomorrow.”
And get your resume up to date.
Did they call out your name, or did they call out a raffle ticket number?
Actually, I would like to hope that my comment forestalled some negative comments. I’ve seen way too many people just coming in here to vent and then getting pounded.
I didn’t want bjohn’s perfectly legitimate complaint to be buried in a “Those are the rules!” fit of sniping. Hey, I was being completely supportive’s of bjohn’s situation. If that’s jerkish, we don’t have enough jerks here.
I hate to use the word “jerkish” because the has a connotation that the post was a bannable offence, which it cetainly wasn’t. The supportive part was fine. The maligning of a community wasn’t, IMO. Your assertion that there are a regular gang of us here who automatically attack every Pit post without thinking about the situation was way off base. Your next assertion that your first post was the reason that this vicious gang held off this time is laughable.
Haj
Wow. That sucks. I’d raise hell, myself. You might ant to do it in a more polite way than I would, heh. That’s completely unfair.
Let us know what happens.
Yup, you were screwed. Good luck in fighting TPTB.
Lighten up, Francis.
Haj, I stand by my comment that these kinds of threads usually get dumped on. But you’re right that I went over the line in saying it, and I apologize for that.
You lost me pretty early on by implying that people who drink can’t be responsible.
Hey guess what? I drink and I am responsible. Sorry you have to work, but maybe that is simply how the rotation worked out. Someone had to work and this time it was you. If they have consistently done this, then perhaps you have cause for your whining.
See what happens when you apologize, the very next guy dumps on the OP. 
Haj
bjohn13, you’re right on the money about calmly expressing what happened to management, and especially about finding the right person who can do something. If you’re on good terms with your boss, that’s a good start. Don’t talk like you were cheated. Talk like you’re disappointed about the process.
On the bright side, at least you were given the opportunity to attend your office Christmas party. Ours was held last Saturday night, when pretty much the entirety of the emergency staff was either currently working, had just finished a 9-hour shift, or had to be at work at 8 the next morning. They held the party at some seedy little bar, which was something of a problem for the handful of employees (again, mostly on the ER staff) who are under-21. Then the day staff bitches about how the emergency people never come to office social events.
I cannot tell you how many times I have had this exact conversation over the last month:
You’re coming to the party, right?
No, I have to work that night.
Well, you can come after work.
I’m scheduled till 2am, and I’m usually here till 3 or 4. The party ends at 10 and the bar closes at 2.
Well, you can come for a little bit before work.
I have to be here at 5, and the party doesn’t start till 7.
Well, somebody can come work for an hour or so for you so you can come.
Oh, goody! Which part of my shift do you want to cover?
Oh, I can’t do it, but I’m sure you can find somebody.
I agree you should talk to the boss. That’s a buncha bullshit. Although as Twist asked, I’m curious, did they announce your name, or just the ticket number? Did they know it was you who won? Go to the boss and explain the situation. I’m also a firm believer in the philosophy that taking one for the team usually ends up in you getting fucked over, and nothing more.
And if it was truly one of your best friends that won after you, I’d think they’d know the story and would’ve at least split the prize with you. That’s kinda fucked up that they’re all “dude, that sucks. Here’s a painting. Merry Christmas and sorry you can’t get the kiddies any gifts because you got jacked out of the money you won, which I ended up getting. Aight, I’m gonna go do some shopping now…”
Is it just me, or does that sound like not the friendliest thing to do?