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I used to have a simple approach – I refused point blank to go.
Now I am my own boss I never get invited.
Think i can beat you all.
At moment i am 29 and have been at the same place of work for 12 years and have never once been on a single works outing for Christmas or just a general trip to the pub.
I was invited to a weekend trip to Blackpool to go to the lap dancing bars but instead i went to Doncaster for a days racing.
I look at it this way, If i dont talk to them in work then why the hell shouldi buy them a drink.
We went too a resteruant that couldnt seat all our party together despite the booking being on theier system since September, the food was ok, just.
Everyine got pissed beforehand, one of the of the prettyboy waiters goty annoyed when one of my party kept eyeing him up
Ours is on Tuesday night – a departmental Christmas Dinner and booze up. Nice restaurant in the main square in Gibraltar – should be a good bash
just off to the works Christmas do; does everyone else hate them as much as I do?
Yes but as this is the last chance to go to one at present company I am going, which I wouldn’t normally do. It’s tomorrow night and a free bar from half past 6 until 2. Tuesday’s a blur already.
Every year it’s the same argument.
I’ll be honest I’m a food snob. I’ll happily pay money to watch a film and if it’s rubbish, I’m not that bothered. Pay funny-money to watch a play and it’s crap, well, I’m still okay with that.
However, go to a restaurant and get bad service / bad food and that annoys me.
So every year the social organiser approaches me to invite me to the ‘do’, and we have the following conversation:
Me: So where is it this year?
Restaurant X
Right, I’ll ask around and find out about the place.
Don’t worry about that. Listen you know it’s not really about the food?
What?
Well, it’s a Christmas ‘do’ isn’t it? The food’s not that important.
But you’re asking me to pay £40 to go.
Yes, I know that, but just don’t expect the food to be great.
Eh?
Well, it’s more the social side.
Yes, but you’re asking me to pay £40 to go to a restaurant. Perhaps if the food isn’t important you should ask people to arrange to meet in a pub?
Now don’t be silly.
Our departmental rules are stll in play when we are on a works do, some people for get this and cause allot of paperwork as a result.
I’ll be honest I’m a food snob. I’ll happily pay money to watch a film and if it’s rubbish, I’m not that bothered. Pay funny-money to watch a play and it’s crap, well, I’m still okay with that.
However, go to a restaurant and get bad service / bad food and that annoys me.
I’m exactly the same ROF, the food thing gets me every time, theres a smart pub down the road from me that does cracking meals for between 6 and 12 pounds. Everytime someone wants to go somewhere else and the food isnt as good (which 99% of the time it isnt) and is more expensive and has no atmosphere (which 99% of the time it is) it winds me up, but I seldom ever say just how much it annoys me to whoever booked it.
Our Christmas do for this year (thankfully I left before having to refuse to attend) was being sorted out earlier in the year by a pretentious "striving to be midde class" late 30s, weirdo woman, who I would have to avoid conversation with because everything about her made me twitchy. She booked us a country pub in the backarse of beyond in North Yorkshire, with a jazz cabaret also booked. The cost per person was 35 pounds (which is obviously before you have even had a drink so lets say a ton realistically), and it had sh1t night out written all over it. Whats wrong with somewhere nice in a town centre and then just move on to a nightclub or something after.
The weirdest Christmas do I went on was when I worked in an insurance brokers about 10 years ago, they had it in the belfast hilton in LATE JANUARY. They had to have it somewhere smart so they could have all the bigwigs from the insurance companies there but were too tight to pay for the run up to christmas. Not only that but we were all on such poor wages at the time that the night cost most of us more than a weeks wages.
Our departmental rules are stll in play when we are on a works do, some people for get this and cause allot of paperwork as a result.
This was the case when I was working with the army last year in the falklands. The air force used to run a policy of no rank in the bar (with obvious exceptions at times), but the army frown upon you for not turning up and then have an address people by their rank stance when you are there. What happened on a few occasions would be that the officers would have their egos dented and people would end up getting in bother, or the sergeant major would start having a proper go (drunk) at someone (also drunk) for some niff naff misdemeanor and then get told where to go. Either way people would end up getting charged left right and centre afetr a night drinking there, which I always thought was unethical.
Typical civil servants, on occasions our lot get drunk and randy, thats when the fun starts, punchups and exstra marital affairs. On one ocasion a chap spiked my drink so i would be the out of the way sp he could have a crack at a friend of mine, the silly idiot forgot that i dodnt drink and was able too smell it before i could consume it.
The drunken solders sound fun, not, testerone mixed with batle trained men who are pissed, the vikings had a no weapon rule in their drinking halls too prevent drunken pissups turning lethal, funny how the military have contoued that rule…
Believe it or not Yorkshire, theres not actually that much fighting would go on, at least not on any unit I’ve ever been on (paras perhaps as they are a bit mental). Soldiers are actually subject to far more rules and regulations than civilians and the punishment for them, if they mess up is in most cases far more severe, so they generally behave themselves.
On saturday night in my home town I saw a riot and a few multiple person brawls. Where in the falklands (over a 6 month period), where the only thing to do was drink, there was more people out drinking on a regular basis and all I saw was a bit of a cuffuffle one night and another night my boss pushed his mate. Most people Ive wokred with would tend to be more mischievous than agressive when drinking.
As in the last 5 years, I’ve arranged the department works do (at the car rental place.) Usually, the bosses throw a few quid in so we get it all for next to nothing, however this years is was told ‘No Funding’, so instead of the usual £30 a head restaurant bash, I decided to go for something affordable but not greasy spoon standard. Our do is tomorrow night at a Chinese buffet restaurant, and it’s only £14 a head, which has gone down well with all the staff. Hopefully it will all go swimmingly – I popped in there tonight just to confirm everything, and it was even better than I thought it would be! Just hope it will be as good tomorrow!
Darren – AngloGerman
________________________________________‘The Hungarian’s going hell for leather’ – Jim McGrath
We’ve been to those Chienese buffet places for our Xmas dos before and they’re good fun. Not very Xmassy, but a laugh anyway.
I’ve missed out on a Xmas do this year
I’ve changed departments from HR to working as PA to the store manager (M&S). The Management team had a do and I kept waiting to see if I’d get invited but as I’m not management presumably, I didn’t. Well no-one thought to ask me. I was ill in the end anyway so couldn’t have gone. But I feel really miffed, I love the chance to dress up in a posh frock and get tiddly!Top class food and wine yesterday. Great restuarant in Marylebone. Hardys if anyone is interested…been a few times and its terrific. French stle mostly
But dismal company. They are nice enough people i work with…but dull as ditchwater.
As i get older i find less inclination to bother socialising with those i have little in common with…
You can choose who your friends are but, by and large, you cannoit choose who you have to work wth.
Having said that some of my closest friendships have emerged from work – including meeting my wife – but that tends to be teh exception rather thna the rule.
In one job I had it was actually raised, as a major negative, during my annual review that I did not socialise with my colleagues outside work. Suffice to say I went ballistic and it was never raised again.
I’ve changed departments from HR to working as PA to the store manager (M&S). The Management team had a do and I kept waiting to see if I’d get invited but as I’m not management presumably, I didn’t. Well no-one thought to ask me. I was ill in the end anyway so couldn’t have gone. But I feel really miffed, I love the chance to dress up in a posh frock and get tiddly!
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