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Are you having a work Christmas party? Share your stories (good, bad or indifferent)

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2

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    #32
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,266 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    Yeah, that really filled me full of Christmas cheer.


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    #33
    lawred2
    Registered Users Posts: 24,267 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    Feisar wrote: »
    A company we worked along side on a project had a lad sacked due to groping a collegue.

    Imagine landing home to the wife the week before XMas to tell her you were sacked for sexual assault. Idiot.

    lol


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    #34
    weldoninhio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,311 ✭✭✭✭weldoninhio


    ginandtonicsky wrote: »
    Missed this year’s one because I was not arsed with it. New guy passed out in the toilets, taken home in an ambulance, rocked up to work an hour early the next day out of pure fear & sent home to sleep it off. Last year a manager got sacked for sexual harassment, year before there was blatant sexual activity at the bar between boss and his PA. they’re never boring anyway!

    What sort of ambulance takes you home?? Are you sure it wasn't a taxi?


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    #35
    razorblunt
    Registered Users Posts: 17,300 ✭✭✭✭razorblunt


    I always tend to go alright, more for catching up with folk you wouldn't have seen in a while, especially if its a Dept one.
    They're all generally shite though, they stopped the big party for the company about 2 years ago and in fairness that was class.

    We had out Dept one last week, one of the Heads was seen walking in behind a closed off area with another team head. A few lads took it as their opportunity to get some payback, sat outside and waited for them to come out. I think both are married, may have signed their own P45s but they're contractors, they won't care too much.

    Best story I heard was of a fella who was new to a job, not performing well but they were letting him have Xmas before they hit some performance management in the new year. Off the went for the Xmas Night out, dinner paid for and a few rounds at the bar which your man absolutely canned. They left the bar to move on and walked past a Garda car. Your man "accidentally" fell against it but the Gardai just let him away after a stern word and a chat with the manager. The guy gets two cars down and then kicks the wing mirror of another car thats parked there, right in front of the Gardaí still watching him and all his colleagues. All the while maintaining his innocence.
    He never got to see out the Xmas period.


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    #36
    FTA69
    Registered Users Posts: 9,252 ✭✭✭FTA69


    F*ck's sake I have my own one tonight and I'm paranoid now.


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    #37
    Eggs For Dinner
    Registered Users Posts: 2,935 ✭✭✭Eggs For Dinner


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    A girl I knew years ago got plastered. Missed work the next morning. Slept with a married guy (she was engaged herself). Gets sacked for missing work, wrecks a marriage, her own engagement over. Few months later finds out she is pregnant from one night stand and the guy wants nothing to do with so abortion it ended up.

    But what was the grub like???


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    #38
    silverharp
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    weldoninhio wrote: »
    What sort of ambulance takes you home?? Are you sure it wasn't a taxi?

    sounds like a great business idea, get you cleaned and sobered up before arriving home so you don't get abuse :D

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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    #39
    TheDavester
    Registered Users Posts: 3,202 ✭✭✭TheDavester


    FTA69 wrote: »
    F*ck's sake I have my own one tonight and I'm paranoid now.

    So do I - will report back


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    #40
    One eyed Jack
    Registered Users Posts: 23,656 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    Christmas dinner last week and it was a fairly formal affair, so after dinner talk got around to who wasn’t able to make it to the event. They were talking trying to describe two Egyptian lads who I had no idea who they were, when I came out with “how do you know they’re Egyptian anyway? The way they walk, is it?”...

    facepalms all round.

    Never one to do things by half measures, I decided to compound my idiocy - “well, that went down like 99 lead balloons”


    How I wasn’t taken out back and beaten, I’m still not sure :pac:


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    #41
    Pauliedragon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,457 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    FTA69 wrote: »
    F*ck's sake I have my own one tonight and I'm paranoid now.
    My general rules are.
    Drink about 20% slower than normal.
    Any work chat comes up excuse yourself go to the toilet or change the subject.
    Any drunken fool starts making comments again move to another table discretely.
    The second you feel a bit pissed go home.
    Golden rule is nothing good happens after midnight at these things so pretend your Cinderella. 😉


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    #42
    gmisk
    Registered Users Posts: 31,828 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    A girl I knew years ago got plastered. Missed work the next morning. Slept with a married guy (she was engaged herself). Gets sacked for missing work, wrecks a marriage, her own engagement over. Few months later finds out she is pregnant from one night stand and the guy wants nothing to do with so abortion it ended up.
    Its the mosttt wonderfull time of the yearrrr



    That sounds like a cheery christmas plotline from eastenders.

    I worked in a Bank for a while they had big christmas parties in a posh hotel in D4, bands, nice food, open bar.


    Dont have one in my current place....I much prefer it tbh, if I want to see people from work outside work, I will.


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    #43
    ELM327
    Registered Users Posts: 21,358 ✭✭✭✭ELM327


    TheDavester wrote: »
    So do I - will report back
    Same, ours is tonight too.
    Won't be going myself mind.


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    #44
    JustMe,K
    Registered Users Posts: 610 ✭✭✭JustMe,K


    I worked for a big enough company, at one party we got barred (as a company) from a well known city centre hotel because some girl smashed a bottle off a table and tried to gouge out the bouncers eyes with it, because he told us all to put our shoes back on. She didnt last long.


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    #45
    marvin80
    Registered Users Posts: 1,817 ✭✭✭marvin80


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    Missed work the next morning. Gets sacked for missing work

    Missed work one morning and gets the sack?
    Had she only started in the place recently?


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    #46
    Tell me how
    Registered Users Posts: 21,517 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    A girl I knew years ago got plastered. Missed work the next morning. Slept with a married guy (she was engaged herself). Gets sacked for missing work, wrecks a marriage, her own engagement over. Few months later finds out she is pregnant from one night stand and the guy wants nothing to do with so abortion it ended up.

    Don't think any company would sack someone for missing one day, and particularly the day after a Christmas party.

    Obviously, it's likely she was removed because of the other parts of your story but if it's as simple as missing a day and getting fired then she probably has a fairly strong case of unfair dismissal (unless she was already warned for this).

    Think that is why parties can make companies nervous. Dealing with unacceptable behaviour still has to follow HR rules and be consistent amongst all employees and events.


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    #47
    OhHiMark
    Registered Users Posts: 1,057 ✭✭✭OhHiMark


    kcdiom wrote: »
    I worked for a big enough company, at one party we got barred (as a company) from a well known city centre hotel because some girl smashed a bottle off a table and tried to gouge out the bouncers eyes with it, because he told us all to put our shoes back on. She didnt last long.

    Sounds like she was just trying to help. We've all seen Die Hard, nobody wants to be walking around with no shoes when there's glass on the floor.


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    #48
    cocokabana
    Registered Users Posts: 51 ✭✭cocokabana


    A friend of mine, at her works party years ago, got drunk and insulted the MD of the company, she told him she didn't like him & called him alot of choice words etc etc. She had to apologize to him afterwards and not long after she left of her own accord! Worse still, her family and the MD families all know each other and are from the same town.

    My sisters' works do a couple of years ago, two colleagues started snogging (while drunk obvs) and colleagues had to pull them apart as they are both married.

    When I was 20, I worked in the office for an electrical contracting company during the Celtic Tiger. They had a night out on the town for all the sparks, it turned into a brawl. One of the lads climbed up some sort of frame on the wall, and dived into tables. He got the sack. They never again had an official night out for the electricians after that, only had dinner & drinks for the office team.

    My works do is lunch (dry) next week in a pub, might get an extended lunch hour out of it then back to the grind :rolleyes:


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    #49
    mvl
    Registered Users Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    Well got invited to two departments this year, but decided to go to none.
    don't have the luxury to go party-ing these days.

    But in past had some good ones, and a really bad one.

    My worse was years ago: got sad drunk cause of Someone who was at the same party. Cause party was work related, put on a face and danced to forget about it; then drank more, and I got really vulnerable.
    Managed to get some bruises on my legs/bum from falling couple of times while I got dragged to another disco in town. Some groping involved on same route, but arrived home ok eventually.

    From then, I don't drink at all in work events; but try to mind others that do/make sure they have a lift home.


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    #50
    ChikiChiki
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,950 ✭✭✭ChikiChiki


    The Christmas work party is a bit of a professional minefield. Your always being evaluated on your conduct by someone especially in large companies. I'd normally show up for the dinner and have 3 or 4 then skip off. Learned that's the best tactic over the years after a few messy ones.


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    #51
    homosapien91
    Registered Users Posts: 380 ✭✭homosapien91


    .


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    #52
    F.nelson
    Registered Users Posts: 40 ✭F.nelson


    cocokabana wrote: »
    A friend of mine, at her works party years ago, got drunk and insulted the MD of the company, she told him she didn't like him & called him alot of choice words etc etc. She had to apologize to him afterwards and not long after she left of her own accord! Worse still, her family and the MD families all know each other and are from the same town.

    My sisters' works do a couple of years ago, two colleagues started snogging (while drunk obvs) and colleagues had to pull them apart as they are both married.

    When I was 20, I worked in the office for an electrical contracting company during the Celtic Tiger. They had a night out on the town for all the sparks, it turned into a brawl. One of the lads climbed up some sort of frame on the wall, and dived into tables. He got the sack. They never again had an official night out for the electricians after that, only had dinner & drinks for the office team.

    My works do is lunch (dry) next week in a pub, might get an extended lunch hour out of it then back to the grind :rolleyes:


    Think I worked for said electrical company. Mayhem


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    #53
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,071 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Never worked for a company, but have gone to a few suppliers gigs over the years, or was brought along later in the night as a plus one of a girlfriend at the time. Most were fairly low key affairs, where the most you'd get would be office politics bitching type stuff(life is too short...), or Sean from accounts passed out.

    However a few went a bit south. Pushing and shoving things going on with management types, one all out fist fight, but they were near 60 so no damage done and they gassed out in seconds(well fed oul lads fighting in double breasted suits while their wives look on in horror is always entertaining). Some sexual shenanigans went on at most of them and one where a couple of women gave a couple of us a "lesbian" show in a side room. As you don't.

    Speaking as a complete outsider to the corporate/business world, I get the impression in a few companies of a low level set of grudges, attractions and the like, that seems to grow like a boil over the year until the Christmas party acts like a lance. I found out of town industry conferences, product launches and the like have even more potential for shenanigans, especially affairs.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #54
    andekwarhola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,638 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    We always have one but I rarely go. I like my colleagues but always feel a bit wary of work parties even though I wouldn't get plastered or anything.


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    #55
    DEFTLEFTHAND
    Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Is this real?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooUcApOAzSk


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    #56
    Tell me how
    Registered Users Posts: 21,517 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »
    Is this real?

    Have you read the thread.

    It is true. Except the words and people are different.

    That is highly likely to happen in several places tonight and given mobile phone/social media etc, many will be dealing with it from before even they get home.

    (On that actual video, apparently it's false)


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    #57
    begbysback
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,910 ✭✭✭begbysback


    F.nelson wrote: »
    Think I worked for said electrical company. Mayhem

    There were sparks there too?


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    #58
    jmayo
    Registered Users Posts: 13,078 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    Had just joined a smallish company (20 odd people) and at christmas party one guy blurted out about two colleagues having an affair.
    The guy was married.
    I was sitting there wondering what the fook I had joined.
    Things got slightly frosty after that.

    Also slightly sad because the girl was one of the best looking ones in the company.:o

    Been at one of those huge multi company christmas bashes in Slieve Russel in Cavan.
    Fecking hell they were young wans puking their guts up in the corridors, others getting high in corners.
    Between that and Paddy Cole playing it was fecking surreal altogether.


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    #59
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Worked in a fairly mid to big (by local standards) place a few years back that had two Christmas parties. One was the regular staff night out, dinner party + drinks etc, the other was a "Santa" party just for employees who were parents and had younger kids.

    The idea was you'd give HR the age and sex of your child so they could tell Santa to have an appropriate present ready for them when they went to visit. So far so good, the official line was that this was a dry event, held on a Sunday afternoon in a local hotel, cake, sweets, soft drinks, maybe a magician or a kids singer, etc.

    In practice however it was anything but. They were notorious piss-ups, absolutely riotous. Single men in their 20's, never married, no kids, didn't even have young nieces and nephews were knocking on their neighbour's doors to (*cough*) "volunteer" to bring their kids to see Santa. The most ferocious alcoholic in the place kept dragging his only son along every year, despite him growing up pretty quick.

    The joke going around the factory by the time I left was that Santa's gift to the son was a new packet of razor blades (I think he was 15 years old FFS and dragged off to see Santa 'cos his da fancied a few drinks)


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    #60
    Pauliedragon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,457 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    Tell me how wrote: »
    Don't think any company would sack someone for missing one day, and particularly the day after a Christmas party.

    Obviously, it's likely she was removed because of the other parts of your story but if it's as simple as missing a day and getting fired then she probably has a fairly strong case of unfair dismissal (unless she was already warned for this).

    Think that is why parties can make companies nervous. Dealing with unacceptable behaviour still has to follow HR rules and be consistent amongst all employees and events.
    She had previous for being late. She was in charge of a high end restaurant and failed to open up for breakfast which led to several bookings being left high and dry. I think they took a punt on her not willing to turn up to the commission to plead her case and all her dirty laundry being made public. I should have mentioned this happened in Sydney where workplace commission cases can often end up in the media if the newspapers find it funny enough.


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    #61
    Heckler
    Registered Users Posts: 3,322 ✭✭✭Heckler


    Have mine tomorrow night. About 200 employees spread across different areas and locations. I've skipped the last few (theres a summer BBQ and the christmas one).

    I'm gonna go but the plan is to leave early. Way too much scope for disaster. The middle management always stay soberish in front of the directors and are watching everyone below like hawks. Too many people in my place waiting to stick the knife.

    Also while I interact fine with the people I work with on a daily basis, there's a few I don't interact with just cos I don't need to. Beers flowing and next thing best of friends. Thats an awkward Monday morning.

    Go late, leave early. Leave a corpse in the loo.


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