Ahhhh. I know that feeling too. I have no time for most of the people in my office, either (got lots of friends in other departments, but the people in my own department…well, most of them are good at their jobs, but they positively suck as humans).
So, I take back what I said about your attendance at this function, and put myself firmly in the “don’t go” camp.
Hope that helps. 
You people are all crazy. Vinegar-based BBQ (ENC BBQ, as a previous post put it) is the greatest stuff ever.
I live in Raleigh, NC, btw. All that tomato-based crap sucks. All of it.
I just had to pop in here with that. I won’t be on to see any replies.
Continue on
Yes, I was referring to the ENC barbecue. I was raised on Kansas City BBQ, but moved to Virginia fer my higher learnin’ and learned to love the vinegar-based kind even more. Oooooooh baby.
Imagine my horror when I was at a diner in New Jersey and ordered the BBQ sandwich. It was a big piece of tough beef brisket with some bottled sauce poured over it. Served on a stale hoagie roll. THE HORROR
I can’t relate to the OP, alas. We’re understaffed and overworked; all of us have vacation time piling up and stress is running high. But I love my officemates and we even spend time together outside of the office. And we’ll jump on any excuse for an office potluck.
cat.
Caircair,
I have a cunning plan:
If you had a sick relative or close friend, would you be able to go? Feed the bean dip to someone dear to you. Yes, he’ll get sick but you’d get out of the BBQ & get the pleasure of caring for him. Healing him will help you get over the guilt of almost killing him & keep you from being found guilty by the courts for causing a fatal BBQ potluck.
Nice try, Joaquim. However, it appears the BBQ is being postponed due to lack of interest. Namely, with all the job stress, nobody wants to spend our weekends with the coworkers we are forced to spend our weekdays with.
I, for one, am not unhappy about this. While it isn’t that I don’t APPROVE of the BBQ, it’s just that I think NOW isn’t a good time. I’d rather wait until we’re all reasonably mellow and in the mood to have a good time, rather than do it now out of obligation.
Moot point now, anyhow.
I have, on multiple occasions, explained very carefully to management, that while they were paying me almost enough to work with these losers, they were not paying me nearly enough to socialize with them. Certainly not always the right move politically, but it works for me.
UPDATE: The BBQ has been cancelled, officially because we couldn’t find a weekend when EVERYONE could come. I suspect, unofficially, nobody cared.
We’re still underpaid and understaffed. And morale still sucks. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
At least I don’t have to socialize with this group!
Ah, barbecue arguments. The last refuge of the damned.
Oh, wait. That’s Brunswick Stew arguments. My mistake. Carry on.
-Myron