Company Parties

[Waylander the Slayer]

I recently started with a new firm and went to a company party- it was insanely funny to sit and watch people get completely wasted, puke, tell me & my wife their marraige problems(about the husband- recently married- being an Alcholic & how she wished her husband was like me- my wife wanted to jump over the table and beat her up), dance like they were getting electrocuted, grinding and grabbing etc. Is this a common occurance? It felt like a bad episode of "The Office".

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I recently started with a new firm and went to a company party- it was insanely funny to sit and watch people get completely wasted, puke, tell me & my wife their marraige problems(about the husband- recently married- being an Alcholic & how she wished her husband was like me- my wife wanted to jump over the table and beat her up), dance like they were getting electrocuted, grinding and grabbing etc. Is this a common occurance? It felt like a bad episode of "The Office".

I've been to one big company party, which was very tasteful and no one got wasted. I've been to one small holiday gathering for a 10 person clinic which was similarly boring. I wasn't allowed into the hubby's holiday party last year because it was at a bar, and I had the meatball who was, well, under 18. (heck, he was under one!)

So my limited expereince doesn't back up the "entertained by idiots" factor.

 

[Warrior Poet]

Is this a common occurance?

Yes.

The holidays are a weird time. They're often a happy time, but for many people they're a sad time, due to circumstances, or memories. Highest rate of suicides, I believe I remember hearing, occur arround this time. So, you get a bunch of people together, some of whom may not be happy with their jobs, or their coworkers, or any number of things, and you mix in the world's greatest truth serum, alcohol (perhaps loosener-of-the-tongue is a better term, or inhibition-reducer), and suddenly, "This guy . . . this is the guy!" {hic}

Our holiday office party is today. I'm not expecting that sort of thing, because it's actually at our office, as opposed to a restaurant or other location, but who knows? There will be booze.

I think it's probably pretty common. Sometimes these parties are just the absolute right mix of personal tension, occupational tension, and a feeling of liberation, and you can get all kinds of reactions.

So, cheers! Have fun, and behave as you would want to behave, and perhaps, also, as you would want to be remembered as having behaved sometime around, oh, January 3, when the office reconvenes in a more "professional" setting and the gossip begins to churn.

Warrior Poet

 

[Henry]

There wouldn't be jokes if there weren't grains of truth.

Most Christmas parties that I've seen aren't like that, well, especially not for the past ten years or so since HR departments got MUCH tougher on sexual harrassment. My present company is very fastidious on hanky-panky issues, as before current management came in, it was... (how should I put this...) rampant.

Now, they do get drunk, and act kinda loopy, but no one gets busy in the closet any more (that I know of -- I haven't been to one in a few years).

 

[DaveMage]

It amazes me that the practice of having a company party with booze is still widely accepted. I would think the sexual harassment issues would go through the roof.

We just have a holiday pot-luck lunch where I work, but my wife's company party (with dancing, booze, and a bit of food) takes place tonight.

I'd rather they gave everyone in the company a bonus than spending money on such a bash.

 

[Warrior Poet]

especially not for the past ten years or so since HR departments got MUCH tougher on sexual harrassment . . . Now, they do get drunk, and act kinda loopy, but no one gets busy in the closet any more (that I know of -- I haven't been to one in a few years).

My guess is that while there has been a greater focus on propriety in the workplace and related work functions, and that this has resulted in generally tamer party-going experiences, I suspect that it still goes on more often than I would suspect. I just think that, no matter how many rules get in place, people will always find a way to party around them.

Not that I would know.

(Actually, I wouldn't know. I'm stun-gun stupid naive about this sort of thing in the workplace. I'm always the last to know office gossip )

Warrior Poet

 

[Warrior Poet]

I'd rather they gave everyone in the company a bonus than spending money on such a bash.

Since I normally find holiday office parties to be the pinnacle of boring, this is an idea I wholeheartedly support.

Though this year, my division of the company (the main party is today, the divisional one was last week) was really fun. We went bowling. There was beer, food, and bowling, and no one got schnockered, and most everyone was a lousy bowler, and it was excellent fun.

If you ever get on a party-planning committee, I suggest bowling.

Warrior Poet

 

[Alenda]

I work in a library and so one would think that holiday parties would be quite tame, but one would be wrong!

Yesterday at our yearly holiday bash there was no booze, but someone did bring in a rum cake. (The kind that is soaked in rum after baking). One of my co-workers had two massive slices and got rather tipsy.

Rather than being sad or embarassing, it was quite funny. She was cracking jokes and saying the most hilarious things. Of course, she also teetered up to the Head of Library and casually mentioned how she was drunk from the rum cake. Probably not the best thing she could have done...

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

My office = a bunch of lushes! Our company parties are just giant drunken drinking fests... it's rather entertaining.

 

[Dark Jezter]

My office parties don't ever have alcohol (unless you count the unofficial gatherings of coworkers that happen off of company time and property), which I consider a pity; I would love to see how some of my coworkers act while intoxicated.