Work Xmas lunches

Sounds good to me!

I'm off for my lunch today at local hotel with group I volunteer with. Looking forward to it.

I hated the staff get togethers. I'm not a drinker and I'm scared of drunks (courtesy of ex). I hated all that false bestest friends bit. And then there was the not knowing how much it was going to cost as the bill was always split equally.

I also hated the in school get togethers. I liked to eat Christmas Dinner with the children but it was changed so that staff ate together in another room. Then there were the last day of term buffets to get through.

Omg I sound so unsociable

I wasn't but those events were so false and the friendliness so forced at times.

I hated most big works parties! Why should I feel pressured into going out with lots people, for some of whom I didn't particularly care, or who (probably) didn't care for me? I much preferred it when it was just my teams, not the whole shebang. (My school had a teaching staff of about 110, plus the support staff. So some parties were very, very big)

Actually, some of us held our get togethers after Christmas, to brighten up the gloom of January. That was good.

I hated the works parties/meals too. All that bowing and scraping to the bosses. Ours used to encourage us to sit at the table in 'mixed grades' ie the big wigs condescended to sit with us lower grades once a year. It was cringe making. The bosses would 'encourage' us all to attend, implying that it would look better for us if we did. Oh and we had to pay for ourselves, so once a year we were expected to pay out about £50 to sit through a couple of excruciating hours. A few of us rebelled and refused to go and formed a breakaway lunch with people we actually knew and liked. Our jobs remained in tact. Lunches with people you choose to be with are very enjoyable.

I was never very keen on office 'dos'. Even worse is/was attending your other halves do. Knew nobody and too noisy to hold a proper conversation and of course no matter what they always end up talking shop.

I used my recent knee op' to avoid this years.

I have just been to a company Christmas lunch. There were three people present, me, DH and DD. As DH and I are retired and DD works from home, we do not get any official company lunches, but we do run a small (hobby) antique business and we use that as our excuse for our own company lunch.

We went to an excellent local pub, had a marvellous lunch and then went on to the local NT property to see it dressed for Christmas. While we were there we provided vocal support for an NT volunteer playing carols in a piano in the main hall, someone thought we were part of the Christmas experience being provided by the NT. Later on we will agree which fairs we will take our antique stall to in 2015.

Company Christmas lunch, AGM and team building exercise all in one day.

Both DH and I loathed the Christmas lunches when we were at work and used to volunteer for extra duties like manning the switchboard (him) being on-call(me). You were 'expected' to go and of course to pay for yourself (no perks in the public sector) and enjoy a perfectly horrible meal with people you couldn't stand who couldn't stand you either. Now we are retired we have out own much like FlicketyB we went to Jamie's Italian in Nottingham last Sunday and had a thoroughly enjoyable meal - we paid for ourselves by the way and found we liked our dinner companion very much and will do it again last year.

Or worse still are the 'bring & share' who's got time this time of year to bake a cake? Then your all stuffed into an already overcrowded office eating the most unhealthy calorie laden food imaginable balanced on a paper plate. Trying to dodge the managers. Yuk yuk yuk. However the team only (no managers) meal out was fab, arranged by us well before the panic of christmas set in was a great giggle.

Teetime - your experiences are similar to mine. I too was in the public sector.

When I worked at a Vets surgery the boss would pay for all us 8 ladies to have an evening meal out with him the only male presiding at the head of the table, he was in his element we had a great time.

I also loved the Christmas parties when I was part of DC's PTA we were all friends anyway and had evenings out throughout the year.

I worked mainly for large companies with canteens and we would usually have a free Christmas lunch provided in house, we would go down as a department and how much I enjoyed them depended on the department. Some were really good, others were tedious.

The first one I ever went to was when I worked for a small company in the city. Our 'lunch' was a dinner held at one of the Livery company halls and all the ladies were presented with a brooch and all the men were given tie clips. It was all rather grand, and very good fun.

DD2 is and HR Consultant to a large multi chambers set of Barristers who treat her to lovely lunches and have a brilliant staff do twice a year plus a Xmas bonus and a 2% pay rise this year!!! Why did I bother with the NHS I wonder all we got was stick and no carrot.

My DD had 7 Christmas do's in 5 days this week, says she doesn't want to eat again until New Year!
Teetime I too well remember NHS non-events, like the year it was restricted numbers and, funnily enough, it seemed that only the Consultants, Drs and senior sisters managed to make it!
Must say hate the falseness of forced geniality of some lunches, like you too!
Am about to return to nursing so will probably find out this time next year if anything's changed!