The holiday season feels a lot like Groundhog Day. The movie, I mean--not the day itself.
I've been watching the past several days as the same treats and freebies arrive from the same vendors who sent them as thank you and suckup gifts last year... and the year before that... and the year before that. The gifts essentially say, "Here's a tin of mixed nuts. Might we suggest you send a little business our way?" or "Hey, how 'bout you bring this stylish and practical travel mug bearing our logo to your next client meeting?" My job doesn't put me in direct contact with clients or vendors very often, so I can generally enjoy the free food without feeling bribed or manipulated. (Maybe this isn't such a good thing, however, as perhaps a little ethics-inspired guilt would keep me from eating so many of the treats, instead of relying on my near-nonexistent will power to keep me in check.)
The second inevitable sign of the Christmas routine is the office potluck lunch signup sheet that has once again been taped to the fridge, with the same people signing up for the same items they always bring. The boss is always first to sign up with the same main dish contribution as every year (sloppy joes from a local deli). By next week, when everyone has had ample time to mull it over (which, for many people, means consulting their wife to see what she's willing to bake or assemble in a crockpot for them), the list will fill up, and our Russian co-worker (who sounds just like Latka when he says "Thank you very much") will make me smile yet again by writing "Shrimps" under the Appetizers category.
This weekend I will attend the exact same company holiday party I've attended the past many years--always the exact same three-part event, the only variety being a rotation between one of four different downtown restaurants.
Yes, yes, it's all very nice and I realize that for many people, Christmas is all about tradition. I'm no stranger to the comfort of predictability; I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always entirely open to change. But right now, the tedium and repetition of it all is making it easy to understand why so many people get depressed around Christmas time. Maybe it has nothing to do with loneliness and stress. Maybe everyone just needs something different to look forward to at their company Christmas party.
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5 comments:
BRAVO!
I wholeheartedly agree. Not so much where I work now, but at my former jobs it was always the same. Same bitching about the paltry raise, the cheap Christmas party, the potlucks (!) with the crappiest mix of random food (Are 10 different pasta salads really necessary?). Bosses give you something just to hear you kiss ass. There's always the confusion of what to get them, if anything. Just end it. Just be nice and quit with all the tedium.
PS: Holy random grammar. I'm not at my best right now. *squirming*
Why are people always paranoid about their grammar around me?? Oh. Right. Because of the way I go off about things like a stray apostrophe in the Friends of the Library newsletter. Guess I earned that one. ;-)
I'm supposed to get my boss a gift?? What? Sorry; that's not happening.
Well, let me just start out by admitting that I always spell-check and grammar-check my messages very, very carefully before sending them to you or posting them in your blog. :-)
Anyway, maybe this explains why I'm so hum-buggish this Christmas: our company doesn't hold our "holiday party" (we're a mixed bunch, including Jews, Hindus, Pagans and Agnostics) until mid-January, because we're usually working 60 hours a week during December to meet our clients' year-end rush use up their annual web budgets before the money is whisked away the next year... Maybe we should just refuse some of the work, and bring back the good, old company Christmas party!
Ah, yes. Ours is a "holiday" party as well, though most people slip and call it the Christmas party anyway. It doesn't seem to offend the three people who don't celebrate Christmas. (My company, unlike yours, Jamie, is NOT such a diverse bunch!)
I don't think I've ever corrected a friend's grammar or punctuation unless they asked me to do so, so I really think all this paranoia is unfounded! (Newsletters, signage, and menus written by absent people I don't know, however, are fair game!)
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