[Closed] People moaning about their (free) work Christmas meal/party

Got ours tonight.
Six of us out for a Lebanese.
I have no idea if I'm paying for myself, it hasn't been discussed.
It's a night out though isn't it?

I have variously enjoyed and not enjoyed my work ones. Depends who you work with, if they're good fun it's a nice night out, isn't it?

My wife - hasn't worked (apart from for herself) for 12 years and hence hasn't had a work do and has been jealous. She now works as a school administrator, and got the job of organising the meal out for her and her colleagues this year.

FFS! She got three options and they voted on it, so inevitably some people didn't get their choice. Not her fault, it's a democracy. She then negotiated a discount on the meal (10% - it's something) as they have to pay for it themselves. So she negotiated £2.50 off the meal (£25 down to 22.50, includes some wine) but then there's a 10% service charge and that'll be on the whole cost, not the £22.50 discounted cost. Some people have complained about the 25p difference!!

And finally - she also negotiated 2for1 on cocktails in a nearby bar for after the meal, but people complained that they didn't want to stay afterwards and wouldn't therefore benefit as much*.

Some people just like to moan.

* The wife is staying, is enjoying her 2 for 1 cocktails, and judging from the increasingly fruity texts I've been getting is quite well on her way. I however am on a train somewhere between York and London and suspect by the time I'm home fruitiness will have been replaced by snoring.

Its not free, it paid for with a tiny portion of the profits made on the work I do.

Christmas party? I'm even working Christmas day and 1st January. Another public sector worker here.

Christmas parties can suck my balls.

Bad enough having to work with the goof bags!

I'd rather he didn't.
I feel obliged to go, but I'd rather sit at home looking at a wall, than sit looking at his face as he moans, whinges, and bangs on about work all night.

We don't have one - work for a charity so spending cash on staff jollies isn't a sensible thing to do. Or if the Daily mail are reading they'll translate that as "our chief exec is spending some of his 50 million salary on taking us all to the fat duck as we've had such a good year selling details of all our supporters to East European scammers" .

Well muffin-MTFU and don't go.

You need to meet my boss! An evening of shite is easier than a years worth. 😀

And no-ones vibe is spoiled - none of us really want to be there. It would be great without our boss there as we all get along (7 of us) but how do you tell your boss not to come?

...even his own son had accidentally 'double-booked' this year so couldn't make it.

Thanks for the idea someone up there ^ I'm going to propose the 'whoever mentions work buys a round' rule tomorrow!

Might be handy after my huge bust up with the boss this week............

Happy to say my whole team came to ours last Fri, apart from the guy who's trekking in Nepal, the inconsiderate sod. Even got a couple of guys back for it who've moved on to different jobs this year.
Boss bought the curry, I bought the beers and we carried on for a good few hours afterwards in a couple of pubs.
Was a really good night, standing rule that anyone mentioning work had to get a round in certainly helped!

Sounds like this guy works in a place where people have a sense of humour, are not suffering from various personality disorders and get on reasonably well.

I was not aware of such workplaces.

The really telling thing is that I am actually going to a work Xmas do - my wife's. This is because they invite other halves, they invite former colleagues, have a laugh, and are mostly really nice people. I will probably be the youngest there, but never feel out of place as they are not socially challenged.

So, won't go to my own Xmas do, but will go to one with comparative strangers where I do have to pay my way. Speaks volumes!

Had a really great team night out on Friday, few beers, then onto a nice local bar restaurant that we booked on the proviso it wasn't a Xmas menu. Wine beers and spirits all flowing, wicked food and a right good laugh. I spent a tenner and that was my taxi home, drank from 3-11 on the boss's card.

Told him I really appreciated it too when sober back at work on Monday.

Not a single moan all night either, result.

We make our own, roast quarter of a cow (was going to be lamb this year, but next door retrieved it from our yard). Easy doing it at our own pace, everyone does a little bit. Only complaint is the head rangers obsession with red cabbage, makes enough for 20, but only 2 people seem to have it, even the dogs turn their noses up at it.

Eating until I burst tomorrow.

Our team didn't get a work meal or anything, every other team in the company did

I couldn't care less, it's a bit of a first world problem, but man do other people like to have a moan about it

We had ours last week. It's the first one I've gone to, I've been there just over a year but didn't go last year. We're lucky, they take over the whole pub for the night, put 'X' amount of money behind the bar so free drinks until it runs out, load of food laid on, dj and boogieing if that's your thang.

But, I'm gonna moan! ... Being a bit antisocial as I get older, I'd like to have the choice that if I don't want to go I could have my share of the cost in my wages please as an xmas bonus. Bah humbug!

Will I go next year, oh yes! 😀

our civilianised jailers don't get a works Xmas party, but their employer gives them a £10 Xmas bonus to buy food/treats. But they have to put an itemised receipt in, as they can't buy alcohol.

So one of them went out and bought a packet of cucumbers and some KY jelly 😀

When we got taken over, our new management decided on a post-xmas bash near head office.

So we were invited to get ourselves from Dorset to Slough at our own expense, pay for the event, then another £30 for a hotel room to get back sober the next day.

Not many went.

I'm one of five contractors working in a loose grouping of about 20 software developers & testers. We the contractors are splitting the bill for all 20 between us. Food is £7.95 a head for 3 courses 😯 so we're allowing £2 a head for drinks, should come to about £50 per contractor

It's great working in Ripon 🙂

For most of the time I've been working at my present place I've not bothered going to the Christmas do, because it was usually at some s****y place like Bath Racecourse, with dancing and stuff, and we had to pay a fair bit towards it, plus I'd have to drive or else go on the minibus then be forced to stay until the bus returned.
However last year it was paid for, at a big posh public school that puts on corporate and public dos, so I went on the minibus and it was great fun! Huge place, loads of other companies there, including a print company that used to be part of our place, so was able to chat to a bunch of people I used to work with, some at two previous companies!
They had things going on outside as well, including dodgems, which was brilliant fun; I was a bit bruised the next day...
This year was held in a hotel in town, which suited me, I could walk there. Sat with a creat bunch, including two blokes who are external investors in the company; one of them used to own the brewery in Cornwall that brews Doombar, so he was interesting to chat to. Food was good, I hung around until the DJ came on and lots headed for the dance floor.
A couple of our sales/account managing team tried to get me to dance, but I just don't do that. They're very attractive girls too...
Anyway, I left at just gone ten, walked home, drove over to pick up my mate and we went to the pub. So a good evening all round.
Two days before I went to his Christmas do; he's a goldsmith, and the family business he works for know me and I get invited because we're best mates, went to quite a posh place in Bath, all drink paid for, excellent food, brilliant company, so a win all round, really. 😀

One of my friends who is a contractor was told he had to attend the xmas party until he said that if so compelled he would bill them for it as it was work

Giving mine a miss its taken me 7 years to Convice them being a veggi is not some death cult from the 60s never mind not drinking alcohol. More beer for them

Our team didn't get a work meal or anything, every other team in the company did

I took three of my teams out for lunch yesterday and the other two will go out in January as they have people off work. That's on top of our company/group meal a couple of weeks back.

Bah. Now they're all late in and hungover and all I can hear is "OMG! They did what?!?" etc ad infinitum ad nauseaum (sic).

Humbug. 😡

One of my friends who is a contractor was told he had to attend the xmas party until he said that if so compelled he would bill them for it as it was work

I'm sure I read that HMRC guidelines for Contractors were that attending social dos was an indicator that you are an employee and not a contractor....

Please don't moan about it, appreciatey ou get it and enjoy it. I'm a scheme project manager for network rail, our Xmas party was last night (public sector now so had to pay). Everyone went home at 2200 as we are gearing up for a massive work delivery during the Xmas blockade. That means hell of a lot of people working through Xmas, not seeing family, working in hard conditions doing a hard job. Basically: be grateful you miserably sods (or do a night shift and work on Xmas day). Rant over.

I'll moan if I want to.

You're not the boss of me!

My last boss put on a good doo paid for free bar at local eateries of our choosing and we got cash bonuses and he paid for hotels and taxies for the out of town lads and gave out more envelopes for the foremen to pay for more ale in town and again taxies home.

Did get a invite even though I left last year and the new company I work for one of the UK's biggest house builders and .... Yup didn't even get a bonus... No works do no cash not even a card.... So in revolt the site lads have organised one tomorrow of our own backs round town.

I worked for years in low paid labour jobs, often temporary, it was a step up when I worked somewhere that gave us a £25 supermarket voucher for Christmas, but the work - "operating" injection moulding machines - was so soul destroying and barely above minimum wage, that the first thought on recieving the voucher was to give it back (but of course I didn't).

Thankfully moved on (to entirely different field, actually using my skills) to somewhere where we're treated like humans and we get paid-for Christmas do's and other incentives.