Be Excellent To Each Other

It's a poll which was inspired by me hating my works Christmas do!

Vote wisely!

*Edit* I was very careful with my wording as I didn't know whether it should be do's or dos'... now I've typed it, Do's looks better. Oh well.

Last year (my first at this job), we went out for a meal one lunchtime, and that was the extent of it. We didn't even all go together because someone had to man the phones, so we went in two shifts on different days. This year we aren't even doing that, and I can't say I much mind. Apparently the company used to do massive nationwide parties where all our branches would join up for one big xmas do, but then the taxman tapped them on the shoulder and said "you realise you have to pay tax on all this?" and hit them with a bill for about 6 years' worth, so that was the end of that. Sounded like I would have enjoyed that sort of do, since 85% of the people there would be strangers rather than colleagues I was fed with up. Ho hum.

So I don't really know which option to pick.

How's that?

Better for everyone else but not for me

You're right.. what was I thinking?

How's that now then?

We had ours last week. It was fine. Nothing objectionable. The food was alright, there were plenty of free drinks, and I get on pretty well with my colleagues. There was a terrible wedding-disco style affair at the end of the evening, but there was no obligation to get up and make an arse of yourself. No-one gave any speeches. People mingled. MrsW found a fellow Norn Irish person who she didn't actually have any relations in common with (which is frankly miraculous). I've had far worse nights out.

My last company had a slightly more up-and-down set of Christmas parties. The worst one, by far, was at a trendy casino in Manchester. The food was awful and we'd got put on the vegetarians table (because the normal menu had Foie Gras on it and, meat-eater though I am, I don't really approve of Foie Gras and we eat a roughly 75% vegetarian diet at home anyway so it's no great stress for me to eat a vegetarian menu), which obviously made us pariahs as we got served about half an hour after everyone else, and all the food was cold. It was about £4 for a bottle of shitty European lager, and the only entertainment was the casino - which wasn't great for those of us who don't really gamble. It was a pretty crappy night, all told, but those of us who didn't really enjoy it did bugger off to a nice cosy pub instead, and that was much better.

I enjoyed work dos when I was a saturday sales lad in Freeman Hardy Willis, when I was 15-18. Since then, not so much.

It's my current job's lunch on Thursday, which for the second year is us being "invited" on the do of the sister company we share with. We all dislike it.

Luckily, I'm not drinking and cheesing it to Oxford at the earliest possible opportunity in preparation for more drinking with teachers in Oxford on the last day of term on Friday. My boss has given me permission to clock out early, even, if I've worked up the hours. Bonus!

I should throw my life into disarray by ending five year relationships more often if these are the perks.

I'm really lucky with my place. The whole company (80+ people, but no partners) takes the last day before Christmas Eve off. It's like a free holiday day where you are forced to do what the company says. We have two rounds of bowling in the morning and then a three course lunch at the football club's restaurant with an open bar (not spirits) with a disco for the afternoon. Then at 5 it's all over. This is all paid for by the company.

So, pretty good and can't really grumble but it's exactly the same every year. I've done 3 of these now with the fourth coming up. Last year it really felt like going though the motions so I'm not looking forward to it this year. But then it is on the company's time and money.

Yes, as Im a student.

Ours was great, because it was just a decent bunch of folks going out for food and booze.

Plus pissed dodgems, which was superb.

mine is shit. it is shit, and it is shit.

Mine was Friday night. I didn't go.

Due to a combination of working for a poor (in the financial sense) company, and some skilled "other arrangements" on my part, I've only ever been to one proper christmas meal. Apart from the shock of getting my team leader to buy me a pint, it was a fairly unmemorable experience.
Much more fun was when the department was taken out by one of our suppliers (at Christmas, so it still counts) and we'd go for a chinese and drink free wine until we couldn't see any more. Only downside was that it always used to be on a thursday...

A work 'do' should always be on a school night, especially one with free booze.

Every time I did it, I'd just be a useless zombie at work the following day until one year I managed to book the time off. Then I realised I was still a useless zombie at home and it was just a waste of a days holiday.

Exactly. If you're going to be no use to man nor beast, it might as well be on the company dime, right?

I quite like work nights out as I'm a very antisocial person so they are occasions where you already know everyone and who you get on with so you can just get on with getting drunk rather than lots of introductions.

The main Xmas do (instead of a traditional Xmas meal, we've got the choice of an Indian buffet which makes a nice change) is next Tuesday but, as I usually end up overdoing it, I've already decided I'm going to take it easy and man the office the next day. However, there's a smaller night out this Friday (Thai restaurant then pubs) where I intend to make up for that and suitably drunk.



My logic being that everyone else is going to have either booked the day off or be too hammered to come in to work, leaving me in peace.

Missed the do at my new job as it was last Friday and I started today. Missing the do at my old job, which is also my leaving do, as it's this (Black) Friday and I can't get to Cardiff in time for the start (meal) and can't get home at all. More annoying is that my new workplace has majority voted that as they're given the afternoon off on the 24th, they will also take the morning off, so I'm unable to go to work because the building will be closed. I've no need to take a day off on the 24th, I'd sooner keep my limited holiday for when I need it and get on with settling into the role. Ah well, I suppose I get a week off for the winter break given it's the public sector and I had a nice Xmas shopping day off at my old place, which I used for the interview for the new place in November, using the excuse that as I don't actually Xmas shop, I would take it early so's everyone else can get the day off they want and go shopping.

When I started with my current employer, we'd have three big 'do's' - a Christmas party, a party after the Kick Off meeting in January and some kind of social thing (usually an evening at Windsor Race Course) after the half-yearly meeting. Since the whole Global Economic Crisis(tm), that's been cut down to just the party at the end of the Kick Off meeting now, although they do usually at least put everyone up in a hotel so you can get shitfaced without worrying about how the hell you're supposed to get home.

In the light of this, the Social Club at my employer now arranges a Christmas party instead, although they'll usually only pay for your ticket to wherever the party is being held and nowt else. This year it was some place in Reading, which is in precisely the wrong direction from where I live. Plus, these things seem to turn all my colleagues into drink-crazed lunatics and things always get messy. Rare is the time I've actually been to one of these things and not wanted the sweet embrace of death in the morning, thanks to the hangover I've woken with. So this time I decided to give the whole thing a miss. It was last Thursday, and I was one of maybe two or three people that didn't go.

Last Friday, I just so happened to be one of the first people to turn up for work. It seems that everyone that went to the party decided they hadn't had enough when the venue they were in started chucking out, so they went other places, such as a 24-hour Casino. Most of my colleagues apparently chose not to bother retiring for bed until around 5:50am - 6am, regardless of whether they were supposed to be in work in the morning or not.

Most of them seemed to have had fun and a number seemed like they were still having fun by virtue of still being pissed whilst at work the next morning, but I certainly have no regrets about skipping that one.

My work Christmas party is on Friday. I missed it last year because I was at college full time for the first six months I worked there. It starts at four and is on until eight in the reception hall at my work and it is a free bar serving pretty much all of my companies brands excluding the ultra premiuim ones, so basically any big name spirit(but only one lager!).
My friends band is playing at the party which will be good as it means I can have a drink with him and it will be the first time I've seen any of my co-workers in a social setting as well so I'm looking forward to it.
Before the party starts, there is an Engineers lunch and there about 20 of the engineers going to that. They organise that themselves and I'm going along to it as well. It starts at two. I am supposed to be finished at 12.30 on a Friday but I have extra hours that I didn't claim overtime for so I am getting away at 10.30 instead so I can travel home, get changed and then travel back.
I am trying to convince myself to be sensible on Friday but I can't help but think that I'm going to get incredibly drunk. The party could be quite interesting as well because for a lot of staff it will be their last Christmas before being made redundant with the site closing and the are about 400 people going. I will let you all know if anything exciting happens!
We also had a Christmas lunch last Thursday where we all got a free three course meal and an extra half hour on our lunch break, which was lovely. I won £30 River Island vouchers as well at the raffle. The raffles prizes are all donated by different groups of staff so HR donate something, each of the lines donate something etc. It makes for a really nice atmosphere
I would say that the last two weeks at work have been the nicest I've had since we got the bad news and it's as if people have just pushed it to one side and let Christmas take over so I'm loving the festive period this year, it has made a tangible difference to the atmosphere I'm spending my working day in

There's no option that suits me. While I don't mind my colleagues, I *do* mind Christmas dos. I find they're so excruciatingly planned that the spontaneity of a good night out is lost. Quick, we HAVE to go to this restaurant, and THEN go bowling, and THEN to this club.

To this end, while I enjoyed going out with my old bunch from ATW (even after starting my new job elsewhere I still went out with them) I have only been on work-forced jollies in my new job. People were going crazy trying to swap shifts and get time off for the work do on Friday, I didn't care and didn't go, happily working that evening instead.

I have never enjoyed any sort of formal, organised get together with work colleagues. I do enjoy a drink with the gents from my team though. I work on my own 4.5 days a week so spending time with like minded men with a pint in my hand is a treat. Fuck sitting down for a meal/bowling/whatever though. If someone dictates a plan at me, I bail.

I can't stand them, for various reaons, but the main one is it means I have to shell out £60 to £80 for a hotel room as it's in Bristol and I don't live here.

With the ones I've been to it's usually just the first bit that's planned. Like this Friday - Thai restaurant to start but no plan after so some will go home, some will go round the pubs and some will probably end up in a strip club.

Our Christmas party has been the same for at least 5yrs. We have it in with a load of other companies and you always know someone from another table. We hang on in there until the directors leave at about 12 then us minions will either stay and get what we can out of the free bar until it shuts or go to the club or casino that are part of the hotel. I don't work with all of them, some of them I only see once a year as we're all on different building sites. I like our site management team a lot but I have to say, we have more banter in the site cabins than when all the wives are at the do.....I sometimes think the men make a conscious effort not to engage me in conversation too much if they bring the wife, which is a bit sad for me because the other women are office based and very bitchy. So yeah, roll on the directors home time so I can go and have fun!

I have no problem with my colleagues and like them and all the rest of it, but I hate Christmas parties and didn't go last year. Turns out I made the right choice as one of the blokes got so drunk he puked up at the dinner table (an Indian restaurant). Also two others puked in the taxi on the way home.

Call me old fashioned, but that type of behaviour disgusts me, so I'm not going this year either (this Friday). My boss is disappointed that I'm not, and tried to assure me that people would behave, but I'm not willing to risk it.

I've never really understood the 'Drink 'til you puke' attitude, either. Are we the only country to do this?

Sadly, I suspect we might be, or at least one of the main ones.

Pretty much, we can handle our drink North of the border

Seriously though, after seeing a stupid amount of countries I'd say there are places suffering from bigger drink problems than here, it's just that most of our drunks tend to be obnoxious & that draws more attention to it. There's a whole fucking attitude problem in the UK & I'd say that's the bigger issue.