[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by singular1 *
**Steve Wright
I don’t “get” what the “you wanna drink at an X-mas party? You need help!” people are all about.
Maybe it’s because I have an unusual diet (vegan) and always make an effort not to impose my lifestyle on others. No, if I have a dinner party i’m not going to cook a roast, but shit, if someone wants to bring one and cook it, I’m not going to stop them. If someone at this party is not allowed to bring a bottle of wine with them, and alchohol is going to be provided at some point in the evening, then it can be assumed that this is a personal decision, not a monetary or liability decision.
Not to mention the fact that it’s the bosses WIFE that’s deciding this. And Lib, since the boss is obviously not going to check in here, we’re just gonna have to go on Siemsi’s word. She should have nothing to do with it, the party’s not FOR her.
As for everyone who says they don’t want to be around people that are drinking, so what? Just because you don’t like being around them, they shouldn’t be able to drink at a party? What makes you so damn special? Just because it’s not YOUR idea of fun, then it shouldn’t be anyone’s?
I’ve never been to a company or social or mixed gathering without alchohol being served. Of course, I live in the Napa Valley, so I might be a little biased…
Podkayne
I am wondering a few things here. One, is this a polite—not right, just polite—way of saying ‘Fuck off’? Two, there are several interpretations of etiquette, apparently, as there are more than one of us here who do, in fact, find it to be standard to serve alcohol at parties, be they work functions or not (possibly excepting AA meetings, of course). Three, I do indeed care about etiquette, right up to the point where etiquette[sub]1[/sub] clashes with etiquette[sub]2[/sub], at which point I try and figure out which one has a good reason for being the more polite standard (of course, neither is right or wrong). Given that the party is for the employees, and given that proper etiquette in all cases is to show up in the first place, it seems impolite to not offer alcohol. As they have, shall we politely say buckled?, buckled on this point and served alcohol for one hour I see they were at least not immune to this Logic of the Polite.
Lezlers wrote:
So? Why must the boss appeal to antiquitatem?
They happen. All the time. I’d say more than 1/2 the parties I go to are non-drinking (my friends drink, but they are the kind of people where generally we buy a case of beer, and have a case and a half of beer left over). About 1/2 of the corporate events (parties) I’ve been to over the past 15 years (mostly working for or at Fortune 500 companies) have been non-drinking. There is probably some geographic differences, probably some industry differences.
Siemsi, your husband is a director, right? That means he has staff underneath him. So, I assume the two of you throw a kick-ass party at your house, on a Saturday night, complete with catering and alchohol, for the people that report to him. Right?
If her husbands company paid for it and paid for it to be at a third party venue rather than her house, as is the case for a company Christmas do, I’m sure that he’d be only to thrilled to put on such a kick-ass party.
If circumstances are otherwise, I have to ask what the fuck it’s got to do with the situation we’re talking about.
pan
Ah, you see you’re missing the connection. Clearly Siemsi’s complaint that the company won’t let people buy drinks after the first hour is completely unjustified unless her husband invites all his staff back to his house for a party at his expense every weekend.
Oh hang on, that’s a pile of arse. No, I can’t see the connection either. Sorry.
kabbes, not every Christmas company do is at a third party venue and/or paid for by the company. My corporate Christmas party is at our VPs home every year (I believe he expenses it, but I’m not sure). Other departments in the same company have theirs at third party venues – and some departments don’t have Christmas parties at all.
Well let me see. Where is this Xmas party being held? Who is funding this Xmas party? Isn’t the husband’s company? Or is it the boss? Is it at a third party venue? Or at the bosses house?
Ooh, let’s see:
Then there are also the references to a bar being open for an hour.
Waddya know - I guess this turns out to be just like the situation I was referencing after all - you know, the one in which a company is paying for a party at a third party venue. I guess we shouldn’t worry about those ol’ anecdotal red herrings then, what say you? Lovely.
pan
sigh kabbes, you are quite dreamy. 
(You need to quit taking leave, young man!)
Please read the OP, which explicitly states the venue is not the VP’s house this year. Also please note that the OP does not lament free drinks, but the denial of their freedom to drink at a party. I think (and I welcome the OP correcting me if I’m wrong) what is being railed against here is not an absence of free drinks, but the curtailment of someone’s freedom to drink in a responsible, adult manner at what is supposed to be a celebratory party.
Gary,
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That is exactly what I was carrying on about.
I could care less about free/paid drinks. It’s the POINT that the bosses wife does not allow her hubby nor anyone that works with him to drink at the Christmas party. And it is because of HER beliefs---- not that the company is tight assed.
Thanks again, Gary!
I thought kabbes was responding to the idea that Seismi’s husband throw his own party for his reports.
Siemsi wrote:
I bet yours is the only husband on earth with a mind of his own, right?
I’m not even going there…I’m easy to stir up…;-p
You’re absolutely welcome. I’m very surprised at how may people seem to have taken exception to such a humble rant.
And as someone who also has to attend company bashes, I very much appreciate the fact that my wife recognises the political nature of such affairs, and turns up as well. God knows she does a far better job of charming employees and colleagues than I could, although maybe if I wore a dress too…oh hang on, I did wear a kilt last year. Must be my legs or something.
Gary…
Geeee…I’m glad someone understands.
crys with joy
Not having alcohol at a party is totally fucking rediculous. Talk about boring and awkward. You have every right to rant about this, ** Siemsi**.
BTW, I have worked for several large companies and they all had drinking at the company parties. The technology company that I work for now has about 1,000 employees and we often drink in the office on Fridays.
Company parties are basically manditory, and usually tedious to get through. Not offering alcohol seems deliberately cruel. As has been pointed out, these parties are supposed to be a perk. Instead, they have the opposite effect.
Gary wrote:
With all due respect (and I am an admirer of yours), what is humble about it? Siemsi has presumed these things:
(1) The boss has no mind of his own — he is his wife’s robot
(2) What Siemsi wants is what everyone should want
(3) Her own opinion matters more than the boss’s
(4) The one hour open bar is unmitigating
(5) The boss’s wife is opinionated, but she (Siemsi) isn’t
If that’s her humility, I rather think that her arrogance would cause the whole Internet to crash.