Ho,ho,ho, horrible work christmas party idea

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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Well, now my resentment of corporate america just has been peeked for this year. we recently got our last paychecks, and had a form on it asking us if we wanted to attend a chistmas party. The three options were one- I will attend, two, I will atend with a guest, (Whom you hadda shell out an extra $25 for) or three I will not attend. Under normal circumstances, i might've considered it, but try to envision this- work all day, sweating your balls off, then being told to go home and get cleaned up & go back out to the party at a fancy restaurant.

For all that, we could've used the money in our party raising funds to get 2 $20 catered kits from A&P and asked people to bring in food, or better still, had the same caterer we've had for the last three yrs to do it.
And I'm talking some good food here folks, and you didn't even go home & get cleaned up;Yankee pot roast, sausage & peppers, duck ala orange, chicken, and various other goodies, right across the way from our own break room, in the training room.
But, what the fuck, this is the same dipshitted asshole store manager who I severly underestimated this yr.

And on top of that, the tradition of a grab bag with gift cards from restaurants/stores has been outmoded for, are you fucking ready this- coffee mugs!?
I've been talking to a few people who also said "No" on the forms, and we're almost convinced to write a petition saying this is unfair and get the regular party back on track.

so wtf, am I overreacting, or has this happened to anyone else?
 

invisibleman

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I worked at a gay bar for six years. I have had the pleasure of going to one Christmas party. They only had one while I was there. They probably had a cornocopia of Christmas parties when I left.

I baked four sweet potato pies for my four bosses. And helped pay for a spa treatment at the Grove Park Inn. Know what I got from those three womyn (Yeah they put the Y and the "Why?" in women...hehehe.) and one male? I got a stuffed bear keychain. A Mickey Mouse tie. A discounted (worn out) book on Male Sexuality. None of these gifts were wrapped.

The best Christmas party I was invited to was a non work Christmas party. I was invited by a guy at the bar. A rich client of the bar.
He rented another bar (ALL THREE BARS!!!) (not the bar I worked at.)
I even got my boyfriend RSVP'd in. They had nine male strippers from Swinging Richards in Atlanta, Georgia. They had a full buffet spread. Champagne bottles and glass flutes. Ice sculptures of male torsos upper and lower...:wink:. The guy gave EVERY guest three drink tickets. I wasn't much of a drinker...I had a rum and Coke. I gave my boyfriend my other two tix. He was drinking and eating well that night.
This Christmas party had an afterparty, too at an upscale hotel as well that involved the strippers. (It was an all out orgy...:wink:)

THAT was the BEST party I was ever invited to.
 

SpeedoGuy

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When I worked in a state government agency office I saw planning for holiday parties devolve into bitter power struggles between various competing social cliques at the workplace. The petty politics and underhanded agendas being pushed by a few cast a gloom over the enjoyment by all.

The other thing that happened during the holidays was the pressure to contribute to various charities in order to meet the department's goal of raising XXXX dollars each holiday season. I disliked that. I'm all for supporting charities but I insist that I do it on my own because its the right thing to do, not because it makes one department's holiday charity totals bigger than another's.
 

earllogjam

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The enjoyment of these work related holiday parties is directly proportional to how much you like your co-workers. I had a boss once that got drunk at a holiday party and started strip dancing on the table top. Very fun guy and source of endless teasing. Best boss I ever had.

I enjoyed giving and receiving white elephant gifts at these things. It's like a safety release of all that passive aggression that builds up in corporate offices. I still have a hand made casserole pot shaped like a whale complete with barnacles and a whale tail for a handle. I don't know anyone I hate enough to re-gift it to.
 

invisibleman

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The enjoyment of these work related holiday parties is directly proportional to how much you like your co-workers. I had a boss once that got drunk at a holiday party and started strip dancing on the table top. Very fun guy and source of endless teasing. Best boss I ever had.

I enjoyed giving and receiving white elephant gifts at these things. It's like a safety release of all that passive aggression that builds up in corporate offices. I still have a hand made casserole pot shaped like a whale complete with barnacles and a whale tail for a handle. I don't know anyone I hate enough to re-gift it to.

Wow.
 

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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That's all well in good, but you're talking about people whom I work in a home improvement retail warehouse, who sweat for eight hrs a day, then are told their only festivities are go home, get cleaned up & go back out again to a fancy restaurant, where you have to pay for your drinks and guests. As opposed to a simple in store party held in our break room/ training room. And then to be told that after all the hard work, the only just reward is some butt ugly coffee mug you wouldn't keep for the life of you.
Bear in mind that these gift cards only held a small monetary value of up to $25 to $50.

Most of the people I know would rather do that as opposed to our bosses' deluded sense of what he thinks is a holiday party.
 

invisibleman

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That's all well in good, but you're talking about people whom I work in a home improvement retail warehouse, who sweat for eight hrs a day, then are told their only festivities are go home, get cleaned up & go back out again to a fancy restaurant, where you have to pay for your drinks and guests. As opposed to a simple in store party held in our break room/ training room. And then to be told that after all the hard work, the only just reward is some butt ugly coffee mug you wouldn't keep for the life of you.
Bear in mind that these gift cards only held a small monetary value of up to $25 to $50.

Most of the people I know would rather do that as opposed to our bosses' deluded sense of what he thinks is a holiday party.

Yeah. I agree.
I think that you all should decide not to go to the party. Have your own Christmas party...just don't invite the bosses. Everyone brings a special potluck dish enough to serve the amount of people coming. Or you can bring an appetizer tray and a gift for the coworkers you like.
 

B_Think_Kink

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Wait? do you still work at A&P? I think I had this convo with you... A&P the grocery. If you do still work there... we were bought out by Metro.. might have something to do with it. If not... then your place of employment just sucks.
 

Not_Punny

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Yeah. I agree.
I think that you all should decide not to go to the party. Have your own Christmas party...just don't invite the bosses. Everyone brings a special potluck dish enough to serve the amount of people coming. Or you can bring an appetizer tray and a gift for the coworkers you like.

Good suggestion, invisibleman.

And similarly, MC, you could gang up with a couple of co-workers and host your OWN after-hours party, styled just the way you like it.

PS: I re-read it and realized I was unclear. I was specifically suggesting to hold it AT your place of work (after hours).

- - - - - -

I know some great Xmas games. I think I'll post a thread about it after Thanksgiving.
 

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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Wait? do you still work at A&P? I think I had this convo with you... A&P the grocery. If you do still work there... we were bought out by Metro.. might have something to do with it. If not... then your place of employment just sucks.
No, Lady TK, I only worked @ A&P little over 20 yrs ago just once. I now work for a home improvement retail warehouse. But you're right- it does indeed suck from time to time.

Good suggestion, invisibleman.

And similarly, MC, you could gang up with a couple of co-workers and host your OWN after-hours party, styled just the way you like it.

PS: I re-read it and realized I was unclear. I was specifically suggesting to hold it AT your place of work (after hours).

- - - - - -

I know some great Xmas games. I think I'll post a thread about it after Thanksgiving.
Well, the party itself is generally held at the break & training room there, Hotmilf, but it shouldn't have to come down to me & some friends of mine having to shell out the money for it when our own fund is used for something more extravagant & unwanted by the better % of us.
Oh, and do fill me in on these games of yours- maybe we could play some together , NO? j/k.:biggrin1::wink:
 

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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UPDATE: Well, just when you thought they couldn't sink any lower, they give us this whammy- those who don't go to the party have to close the store, and get no gift..


I tell you, to fucking hell with this place if i ever found another place with a good prescription drug program and 401k plan.
 

Not_Punny

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Wow -- you mean that they are such assholes that you can't even make a complaint or a suggestion about something as near and dear to the employees as their holiday party???

Jeez!

- -- - -

Mmmmmm.... xxx-mas games! :biggrin1:
 

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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Wow -- you mean that they are such assholes that you can't even make a complaint or a suggestion about something as near and dear to the employees as their holiday party???

Jeez!

- -- - -

Mmmmmm.... xxx-mas games! :biggrin1:

Apparently not there, hotmilf, or they'd have more people bitching about it left & right.

Hmmm, now where to hang those xmas ornaments,and where do you want the mistletoe hung from again?:biggrin1::tongue:
 

ClaireTalon

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Presents you get at office christmas parties are usually crap. Why? Because they are not personalized, so personal taste and consideration of such didn't have any influence on the process of choosing a present. Also, and I'm speaking from experience here, more than one of your beloved colleagues try to get rid of the crap they had been given as a present before. Some time around 1999, I stopped counting the fake-instrument saucers that appeared at every Airbase christmas party I had ever attended. Let alone the stuffed plush airplanes, or the monstrous air mattress of the same shape. So, in more ways than one, not attending a Christmas party and abandon getting presents has its advantages.
 

AlteredEgo

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I think that as a protest, all of you should show up at the restaurant dirty and sweaty from work. All of you. You'd really have to stick together on this one. You should all either ask the waiters to take away your coffee mugs, loudly, or hold a demonstration in front of the store the day after where you smash the mugs in front of the employee entrance, or in the middle of the break room. Again, this only works if there is unity, and remember that one of your brothers or sisters-in-arms is going to have to be on clean up duty once management sees.

Have you tried calling the corporate office? Let them know about the negative impact this is having on morale. Next year, if they repea the same mistakes after they've been told numerous times by everyone, then it will be clear to you that their management strategy includes low morale. I've worked for comapanies that deliberately fattened up their all-female staff, and deliberately kept morale relatively low. Becoming popular there was like a pink slip. Going on a diet and getting fit (and inspiring others to do the same) was too. You then have to decide if you want to work for a company like that.

I don't know what you do for the store, but perhaps you could apply your skillset to work in a hospital, or university. They have excellent compensation packages, and will also usually pay for you to advance your education if you'd like.
 

MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK

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Presents you get at office christmas parties are usually crap. Why? Because they are not personalized, so personal taste and consideration of such didn't have any influence on the process of choosing a present. Also, and I'm speaking from experience here, more than one of your beloved colleagues try to get rid of the crap they had been given as a present before. Some time around 1999, I stopped counting the fake-instrument saucers that appeared at every Airbase christmas party I had ever attended. Let alone the stuffed plush airplanes, or the monstrous air mattress of the same shape. So, in more ways than one, not attending a Christmas party and abandon getting presents has its advantages.
Well, the presents potion of the party has always been $25-$50 gift cards from various other stores/restaurants, but this year they're gonna do a drawing and some lucky schleb is gonna get a plasma tv. Shit, it could be worse; they could still be doing the store itself giftcards that only give money back to the company when you use them
I think that as a protest, all of you should show up at the restaurant dirty and sweaty from work. All of you. You'd really have to stick together on this one. You should all either ask the waiters to take away your coffee mugs, loudly, or hold a demonstration in front of the store the day after where you smash the mugs in front of the employee entrance, or in the middle of the break room. Again, this only works if there is unity, and remember that one of your brothers or sisters-in-arms is going to have to be on clean up duty once management sees.

Have you tried calling the corporate office? Let them know about the negative impact this is having on morale. Next year, if they repea the same mistakes after they've been told numerous times by everyone, then it will be clear to you that their management strategy includes low morale. I've worked for comapanies that deliberately fattened up their all-female staff, and deliberately kept morale relatively low. Becoming popular there was like a pink slip. Going on a diet and getting fit (and inspiring others to do the same) was too. You then have to decide if you want to work for a company like that.

I don't know what you do for the store, but perhaps you could apply your skillset to work in a hospital, or university. They have excellent compensation packages, and will also usually pay for you to advance your education if you'd like.
No, we've decided that as a form of adamant protest we won't attend period. as for the head office, who do you think allocated the bread, and suggested the restaurant theme?