I hate parties where they offer Coke instead of Pepsi. Maybe if we make a law or something.
Siemsi
You seem like a nice person, so why not cut the husband’s boss’s wife a bit of slack, huh? In the spirit of the holiday season. When your husband is the boss, you can tell him what to do.
I hate parties where they serve hundreds of dollars worth of appetizers and then make me smoke in a designated area.
fucking fundamentalists!
Boy did I start something…Ugh.
Libertarian,
I don’t like Coke or Pepsi, but perhaps a cup of Shut the Fuck Up would be nice, …would you like one? (just kidding…trying to make light of this ‘topic turned serious’ rant).
Yea, Libertarian, I’m just ovulating and a bit cranky…
you’re right! Just wait until I’m the boss’ wife!!! Everyone MUST get drunk! LOL.
IAAL, and in many states, this is not true at all. Some states do not impose social host liability in such situations.
I’m not a fundie, but I HATE being around people when they’re drinking. Maybe the boss’s wife feels the same way?
BTW, since when does alcohol make a situation fun? What, you can’t have fun without it?
Naz,
Not everyone is beligerant and loud when drinking socially. I agree with you, I don’t like heavy drinkers around me. So I move to another area at a party/bar.
My rant had nothing to do with having fun with alcohol. I rarely drink alcohol. Please re-read my inital post.
Ugh…must get to the store for my after work 6-pack fix. sarcasim
Okay, I reread it. It had to do with people pushing their ideas of fun on other people.
[…double take…]
Looks like the spider is caught in her own web.
Ahhhh. Stop it! Stop it! No more! (okay…)
Well I’ll kind of side with Siemsi. Office X-Mas parties are usually a chore, free booze is usually what keeps people grumbling about(and keep them there for more than 15 minute which now that I think about it might be why they’re doing it). I can have fun without a drink but it’s sure hard when I’m hanging out with the braying jackass I just spent 8 hours across the room from five days in a row.
I doubt the boss is doing himself any good on the employee relations front. I would bet for quite some time after the party the phrase “Tee-totalling cheapskate” gets used a little more often. I suppose on the style of office(and office politics) they’ve got going over there. Personally I’d smoke a big jay before I went in but thats me.
PS- dont let AA make you think all reformed alcoholics have “accepted god”.
keep them from grumbling…
Nothing directly related to the topic, since everyone else said it better than I could, but I’d like to point out that my company (major retail corporation) doesn’t serve alcohol at their Christmas parties, which are usually held during working hours. Last year’s party for our area was held at a bar, but the bar itself was closed until the party was over. They did have drawings for free stuff (everything from DVD players to vendor t-shirts and mugs) and plenty of food and soft drinks.
Oh, and not every teetotaler or near teetotaler is a fundie. I’m completely nonreligious but I drink very, very, very rarely. I prefer not to be around people who are drinking, and I’d never hold a party in my house with alcohol being the primary reason for the party.
Criminey! Lib, jbj, witch, etc. are right.
Just go to the liquor store and go home and get tanked. Hubby can call the party venue with an excuse about a flat tire or a cat in the tree or a busted water pipe, and you can put your buzz on and bump your thread.
Problem solved!
;0
The real problem seems to be, as usual when rants about office parties come up, that the occasion is an incompatible mix of business and social life.
If this were a genuine social event, Siemi and her husband would be free to decide not to attend, based on booze availability or any other factor.*
If this were a genuine business event, Siemi would not be involved because she is not an employee, and her husband would not expect anyone to be putting themselves out to make it a nice social occasion for him.
But this is a business/social bastard, so everybody has the worst of both worlds:
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Siemi and the Mr. can’t decline it as though it were a social invitation without potentially hurting his business career.
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The company is trying to score “hostess points” for being “nice” and “generous” and “giving everybody a good time” like a real social event, but the rules of business hierarchy (“what the boss says goes”) still apply, instead of the rules of social generosity (“put yourself out to please your guests as long as it isn’t something that violates your own principles”).
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The boss’s wife is not actually the one giving the party, but she’s using her husband’s position as leverage to set the rules of the event as though she were the actual hostess of it.
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Even so, she can’t get her own way entirely because she’s not the actual hostess, so she has to compromise her principles to some extent by presiding over an event that serves alcohol, even for a short time.
Is this stupid event making anybody happy? Why don’t the employees get together next year and write a nice letter to the company leaders, saying “We appreciate your generous intentions but we prefer to spend our business time working and keep our off-duty hours for our own families and social lives”? Then they can take the money they’d spend on the party and add it to the year-end bonuses.
[/channeling Miss Manners]
*Yes, the hosts of a genuine social event may serve or not serve whatever they wish, but it is considered polite to let guests know in advance if the party plans will be distinctly different from what people in your social circle generally expect: “By the way, this is going to be a gaming party, but people who don’t game are welcome just to look on or chat”; “By the way, we don’t serve alcohol”.
Sorry Siemsi, I left out your other “s”.
Sorry, Siemsi, I knee-jerked about the being around drinkers thing. I can’t stand being around heavy drinkers, as well as people who think alcohol makes a good time. But social drinking is also very uncomfortable with me, even if you’re not loud and/or irritating. Sorry to make it seem like I was jumping down your throat.
Still don’t think this is rantworthy, though. But since I’m not the first person to think so, I’ll just leave it at that.
Siemsi: get a small flask, fill it with your favorite booze, take it with you to the party, and enjoy discreetly. You get your way without offending anyone!
Oh boo hoo, you didn’t get alcohol.
Guess what, I’m 18… our society deems me fit to be drafted and sent off to die in the battlefield, but I’m not socially on par with the older “adults” to do bigger more grownup things like drink beverages with alcohol in them. At least you can buy and consume alcohol without getting arrested.
Don’t go crying in your fucking beer to me.
