You're Not The Boss Of Me

Just the other day I was reading an article about the liability a company can incur during the yearly office party. I really never gave it much thought, but I suppose one can truly hurt themselves photocopying their butt after ingesting a gallon of eggnog. The last holiday office party I attended was many years ago. I was a secretary to two partners in a rather large and prestigious law firm that had connections to a very powerful political family (yes, that's the one). They shuttled us in buses to a private country club where we were treated to filet mignon and lobster tails along with unlimited champagne and lots of other alcoholic beverages. I now realized why we were taken on buses, as one by one I observed some of the most powerful partners, falling down drunk. Now, it makes me wonder how smart it is to hold such a party. At the very least you can make an utter fool of yourself and, at the worst, possibly incur an injury, costing the company thousands of dollars. If you can't throw a party that will show your appreciation to your employees, while minimizing the consumption of alcohol and office antics, how about taking that same money and putting directly into your employee's pockets? This year I am required to attend a holiday dinner with my employers and nine other teachers. None of us wants to go and the money they are spending on this dinner could have been given as holiday bonuses to us. We got no bonuses and are made to sit through a dinner, jumping through hoops, pretending that we really like each other, when we don't. I am beginning to believe that these holiday traditions are more for the employers to make them feel like they are really nice and ordinary people like you and me. To them I say, just send me a card with a check and I'll be happy spending that money the way I see fit and that would not include sitting through a meal with you.