Office Holiday Parties. ‘Tis the season. You know, where you get dressed up and socialize with your co-workers at an official gathering. Perhaps you’re an old hand at the office mingling, perhaps you already bond with your cubemates after work. But perhaps you don’t, or you hate mixing work with pleasure. For my part, I just wonder what exactly is the point with these parties. Most people that I’ve asked hate them and would rather have an extra vacation day!
My office holiday party this year was an exact replica of the one we had last year. Down to the location (why is our holiday party in Virginia when our office is downtown? with a start time barely a half-hour after office closing?), exact same menu, placement of tables, and agenda. It was complete deja vu the whole night. Apparently the social committee had wanted something to try something different. So they were kindly informed that the committee was disbanded. Nice. Tellingly, no one really gussied up this year and there was more talk about where to go afterwards than the party itself.
I’ve seen the gamut of office holiday parties, from being taken out to a drunken lunch on the Hill to swank soirees with a sushi bar. And no one ever seems to care. So please, share your office holiday party stories. I’m curious if the malaise is the same everywhere!
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
As one of the founding editors of We Love DC, Jenn’s passions are theater and cocktails. After two decades in the city, she’s loved every quirky, mundane, elegant, rude minute of her DC life. A proud advocate for DC’s talented drinks scene, she’s judged the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s ARTINI contest, the DC Rickey Month contest, the Jefferson Hotel’s Quill Cocktail competition, and is a founding member of LUPEC DC. A graduate of Catholic University’s drama program, she toured the country as a member of National Players, and has been both an actor and a costume designer before jumping the aisle to theater criticism. Writing for We Love DC restored her happiness after a life-threatening illness, and she’s grateful to you, dear readers. Send your suggestions to jenn (at) welovedc (dot) com and follow her on Twitter.
