Stick a fork in me, I'm done

[white_hart]

At 6pm today I decided that anything that I hadn't managed to get round to already could just wait until January, shut down my work laptop and put away all of my office equipment until the new year.

(I did, in fact, have a surprisingly productive day, possibly thanks to having an early night last night and an extra hour and a quarter in bed this morning instead of going for a grey twilight walk, and have even managed to draft the paper I've been noodling vaguely about for most of this week without getting very far, so there isn't actually that much left undone after all.)

Also, prompted by (a) the news and (b) talking to someone today who said they'd cancelled their Christmas lunch in accordance with University guidance but someone had brought in some mince pies and a couple of bottles of Prosecco and they'd all gathered in an office to consume them, a poll about parties:

Poll #26457 Office parties

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 43

View Respondents

Which of these count as a work "Christmas party"?

View Answers

Going for a prebooked meal at a restaurant
41 (95.3%)

Going for an impromptu meal at a restaurant
31 (72.1%)

Drinks and a catered buffet in the office
43 (100.0%)

Drinks and nibbles in the office, prearranged
41 (95.3%)

Drinks and mince pies in the office, brought in unofficially by a colleague
22 (51.2%)

Mince pies/chocolates left in the kitchen for people to help themselves
0 (0.0%)

Does a Secret Santa exchange automatically count as a party?

View Answers

Yes
9 (20.9%)

No
30 (69.8%)

SEWIWEIC
4 (9.3%)

Are you going (or have you been) to a work Christmas party this year?

View Answers

Yes
5 (12.8%)

I was going to but it was cancelled due to Covid
8 (20.5%)

There is one, but I'm not going due to Covid
4 (10.3%)

We normally have one, but aren't due to Covid
13 (33.3%)

No, we don't have Christmas parties where I work
9 (23.1%)

Comments

[mountainkiss]

Secret Santa not a party if done asynchronously or remotely, which can be done. Otherwise party.

Missing SEWIEIC for last q: work Christmas parties now fully remote, but I am not going because Christmas party.

[nineveh_uk]

Seconds on Secret Santa.

[white_hart]

Yes, I think I was thinking of in-person swaps.

[white_hart]

I am unconvinced about remote parties. Video meetings are always going to feel like work to me.

[mountainkiss]

That’s another reason I didn’t go.

[white_hart]

I feel that I have to go, because I'm the boss, so try to make sure we have things I'll enjoy.

[mountainkiss]

You are more responsible than I.

[rmc28]

I'm the boss and said "not right now, team" :-)

[white_hart]

That is also the decision I made, about five hours before the VC would have made it for me. (We were already going for something lower-key than our normal meal in a restaurant, because several people still had concerns about indoor dining - we were going to have a buffet lunch in the cafe/seminar room space in our building, which has windows all along one wall that we could open for ventilation, and access to a terrace if anyone preferred to eat outside.)

[coughingbear]

I cancelled my team's planned Christmas lunch, and did not substitute a virtual party. I did manage to take them out for afternoon tea a few weeks ago when things were better, and that has had to do for this year.

[rmc28]

I cannot stand the idea of a virtual party, tbh, so I'll substitute a lunch in March/April once we can sit outside.

[caulkhead]

mountainkiss explains this much more succinctly than I could have.