# Office Holiday Parties **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586 "2005-11-18T01:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/21 "2005-11-18T19:25:13Z")
> [@Lightnin'](#): > > I hit the sack kind of early, so I missed the big to-do of two employees’ wives making out in the bathroom and the resultant fight out on the dance floor. This year, I’m gonna stay up late. Do you all work for the Carolina Panthers organization, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/22 "2005-11-18T19:34:09Z")
The best holiday parties were when I worked for the film studio in LA - they went all out, had “casino nights” and live entertainment and would schlep a lot of celebrities to the party to glitz it up. One year, you had to take an elevator up to where the party was being held and when the elevator doors opened, they had dozens of paid extras pretending to be paparazzi and with lots of flashbulbs shooting as they took your photo as you exited the elevator. Then you had to walk a red carpet into the ballroom. Way cool, and funny to watch people’s reactions as the elevators doors opened and your friends would call to you as you walked the red carpet. Their door prizes were trips to Hawaii, wide screen televisions and of course, lots of DVD’s. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/23 "2005-11-18T19:41:48Z")
> [@jali](#): > > I feel like the luckiest chick in the world. I work in Atlanta and was just confirmed for the holiday party in Dallas. The company is picking up the costs of my airfare and hotel. I love the company. I love my company too. They’re starting to relocate some people from S. Florida to Atlanta. People like me (and partner) who have already moved get an all expenses paid trip to S. Florida for the end of year function. And they’re usually pretty awesome black tie affairs with exquisite food. It’s gonna be a blast. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/24 "2005-11-18T19:44:32Z")
Now, see, if I could be assured there’d be some funness like **Lightnin’ and Avarie** talked about I’d be all for having big ol’ blowout shindigs at night. What could be more festive than free booze, a dance floor brawl and enough fodder for office gossip over the next few weeks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/25 "2005-11-18T19:46:29Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Now, see, if I could be assured there’d be some funness like **Lightnin’ and Avarie** talked about I’d be all for having big ol’ blowout shindigs at night. What could be more festive than free booze, a dance floor brawl and enough fodder for office gossip over the next few weeks? 😃 It was a Japanese company, so the incident was never mentioned within his hearing. Ever. He did apologize via email for his behavior. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/26 "2005-11-18T19:49:25Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > It was a Japanese company, so the incident was never mentioned within his hearing. Ever. He did apologize via email for his behavior. There just _had_ to be considerable chitter chatter out of earshot though. I mean, c’mon, we gotta keep up that ugly American personna after all. ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/27 "2005-11-18T21:05:10Z")
We were just picking the menu for ours today. The company pays for dinner at a really nice restaurant every year and then we do a little \<$5 gift exchange of the sort where you can exchange your gift for someone else’s with one or two gifts being the popular ones that everyone wants so the exchanging can get kinda fun/crazy. And the bosses tend to drink more than they should and get a little tipsy, which is also entertaining. No one’s ever throw up or made out (that I know of) so it’s not quite THAT entertaining though! Oh and the menu that we picked out included a choice of filet mignon, delmonico steak, or sea bass, plus some really terrific sounding hor d’oerves. I’m looking forward to that! ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/28 "2005-11-18T22:33:14Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > There just _had_ to be considerable chitter chatter out of earshot though. I mean, c’mon, we gotta keep up that ugly American personna after all. Well, considering that there were like 6 employees, there wasn’t a whole lot of gossip to do. He was quite embarassed that some folks associated with the parent company were there to witness the scene. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/29 "2005-11-19T00:15:24Z")
What is this Office Holiday Party you speak of? We do at least get Monday, Dec 26 off. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/30 "2005-11-19T00:29:06Z")
Most people should have Mon, Dec 26th off. If a major holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a legal holiday. Happened on July 4th, remember? So that doesn’t count as a bonus. Our “holiday kick-off party”, AKA our Christmas Party That They Are Doing Early To Get It Over With, is tomorrow. It’s a decent dinner at a trendy place, but a cash bar, which sucks. Conversation will be stilted, tension will be rampant, and tiny bags of chocolate-covered almonds will be given out. Of course, they’ll probably wait as long as possible to give out the paltry Chistmas Bonuses. They couldn’t do _that_ early. ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/31 "2005-11-19T07:40:50Z")
My company is having a party off site. It’s free, there are martini bars that I think are free (I didn’t look in to that, I don’t care for alcohol), _Earth, Wind & Fire_ is playing, then a DJ after that, till 1:30 AM. There’s some sort of play-money gambling, and a charity auction. There’s also a dinner/hors d’ouvre bar (roast beef, sushi, various other yummies) and the whole thing is New Orleans themed. (They decided on the theme before Katrina wrought havoc down south…but I find it amusing that Earth, Wind & Fire is the band; all the elements except Water, which New Orleans has plenty of) I’m looking forward to it. I normally don’t care for office parties because no matter how much I like my officemates, I see plenty of them already. But I expect there to be a few thousand people at this party (it’s a big company) so there’ll be the potential for meeting new and interesting people, and avoiding the old boring ones. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/32 "2005-11-19T08:22:08Z")
> [@trublmakr](#): > > Most people should have Mon, Dec 26th off. If a major holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a legal holiday. Happened on July 4th, remember? > So that doesn’t count as a bonus. Actually if you have a link to an official government site that states that I’d like to see it, as we’re not getting Monday the 26th (or Monday Jan 2nd) off at my workplace. It would be nice to have backup for my grumblings. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/33 "2005-11-19T08:44:09Z")
We are apparently having a “cocktail party with a twist”, whatever that may be. All I know is we’ve been instructed to be there by 6:30 at the latest to allow time to mingle, get settled in, etc. before the entertainment starts at 7. Given some of the speculation about what the entertainment is (some people have mentioned the Time Benders, which sounds like some unholy combination of Elvis impersonators and disco revival that is heavy on audience participation), I may be needing lots of cocktails. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/34 "2005-11-19T17:24:22Z")
> [@Corii](#): > > Actually if you have a link to an official government site that states that I’d like to see it, as we’re not getting Monday the 26th (or Monday Jan 2nd) off at my workplace. It would be nice to have backup for my grumblings. 😃 Unfortunatley, there is no official backup for that, it’s just a standard policy. You do get holiday pay if you work Christmas, unless you’re company has all floating holidays. I’ve always found them incredibly annoying, because they are indistinguishable from vacation days. Anyway, you’ll vork the 26th und like it. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/35 "2005-11-19T17:24:25Z")
> [@Corii](#): > > Actually if you have a link to an official government site that states that I’d like to see it, as we’re not getting Monday the 26th (or Monday Jan 2nd) off at my workplace. It would be nice to have backup for my grumblings. 😃 Sure. Here is a list of all “bank holidays” in the US. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/36 "2005-11-20T00:44:38Z")
I’d forgotten - this is my husband’s first Christmas with his employer. He doesn’t know what, if anything, they do. But he has his sights set on a management position, so he’ll have to play the appropriate games, which may include going to any company parties. So I may have to go to one after all. I’m willing to bet if they do party, it won’t be in a tent in the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/37 "2005-11-20T03:32:20Z")
Goodness. I work for a rather sizable Fortune 500 company, and we get…squat. Every division (rather “cost center”) is responsible for their own party, and we haven’t had one in 3 years. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t attend any of the previous parties, but I firmly believe that once a year, the stingy bastards should be required to throw down for some food and booze. It’s not because we’re in the red and don’t have the money either. it’s just a terminal case of corporate cheapness. My girlfriend gets a full blown dinner/drinks/band deal thrown at a local place that’s mostly used for wedding receptions. No signifigant others are invited however. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/38 "2005-11-20T03:52:09Z")
I work for a nursing agency. Our office holiday party is a 4 hour “drop-in” deal with sandwiches, sodas, and cookie trays held during the day, when most of us work. Last year, it was announced that they were foregoing Christmas bonuses, for annual bonuses at evaluation time. This was announced at the party of course…_rolls eyes_. Luckily I love the work I do. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/39 "2005-11-20T04:18:00Z")
You know how bad my office Christmas party is? It was tonight. Yeah, November 19. They said that they did that so they could get the room they wanted, which I thought would therefore be a nice place…but it was the cafeteria at the student center at the local community college. It isn’t even a nice cafeteria. It was absolutely wrong for a party atmosphere, since the table seating and the lack of any reason to get up prevented mingling. It wasn’t decorated; the only thing that said “Christmas Party” was the Kenny G Christmas album that somebody finally started on a little boom box just before dinner. It started at 6:00 PM; we sat there like idiots until 6:30 when the boss finally came in and told us we could eat. Dinner was mediocre. Afterwards we sat there and bemoaned the lack of booze or entertainment until Santa Claus (that’s right, Santa Claus, on November fucking 19th) showed up at 7:30 with presents for everybody’s kids. We all exchanged our Secret Santa gifts–mine was a $25 gift certificate to Applebee’s (which is actually useful–it’s one of about three sit-down restaurants in town, so we do go there despite my gourmet tendencies). Then we all left, as fast as our legs could carry us. It was so bad that I’m actually going to throw one at my house next month so we can pretend it never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586/40 "2005-11-20T04:30:34Z")
Mine was tonight, as I mentioned in my previous post. Bad seating, with three long tables, except for mine, with only 4 people; not conducive to mingling. Pretentious and overpriced trendy food, which was free, of course, but the pretentious and overpriced drinks were not. Of which I had two (lemon drop martinis), but which were so strong that even now, an hour after leaving, I feel like I’ve had too much to drink. A lot of people didn’t show up, there was no mingling, and my table scrammed as soon as humanly possible, which was 2 and a half hours after it started. Thank Og that’s over. This year, instead of chocolate-covered almonds, it was Ghiardelii chocolates. Yummy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-holiday-parties/331586.md?page=3)