[Drinking] Work Christmas parties

[Brian Munich]

Gardners arms, 2004. . . . Bar was paid for . . . Mike confirmed for me as Marcus and Adrian didn't believe me. . . on the back of Mitsubishi I reckon . . . . . Apologies viewers, that should make sense to Phil!

If you want a really good pie; The Gardners.

 

[Brian Munich]

I’ve worked on several large projects over my career, and some of the Xmas socials may have well been swingers parties as far as the middle-aged demographic was concerned. A few drinks and all discretion goes out the window.

Also seen many tragic drunken attempts of older guys thinking they’re in with a chance with their attractive 20-something female colleagues, who otherwise have zero in common with them. This cringeworth sight has at least been a lesson to my now-older self to retain my dignity at such events with a wide age range attending.

 

[Professor Plum]

I remember a Xmas dinner in a private dining room at the IOD where we were hosted by Michael Howard (don't ask, long story). We spent a lot of time with Sandra Howard who was absolutely stunning, charming and brilliant company, both me and Mrs Wz went home completely besotted by her.

Hmm. Could be an interesting dinner companion with a few stories to tell. According to Wikipedia, she "was acquainted with John F Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan."

 

[Uh_huh_him]

 

[Silverhatch]

Impossible to convey how mad and inappropriate and excessive the (Xmas) parties were during the 80s/90s within the advertising and TV industries - although Jilly Cooper had a go in Rivals

 

[Superphil]

Gardners arms, 2004. . . . Bar was paid for . . . Mike confirmed for me as Marcus and Adrian didn't believe me. . . on the back of Mitsubishi I reckon . . . . . Apologies viewers, that should make sense to Phil!

Good remembering, I have a dim recollection of that happening, but pretty certain I wasn’t there, probably avoided it by going to a site meeting.

 

[Cordwainer]

Nothing to add apart from these are an excellent thread.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Regarding the money side, I've a slightly different view from the OP. The worst thing is a tight fisted person who turns the paying bit into a protracted scientific exercise of theirs should be £12.41 less because they only had two drinks. Fun killer. Loved it when they went home and everyone else moved on to pubs/clubs.

Working in the 90s for the IT department of a local financial services company we used to get a 'Christmas lunch' that no one was expected to come back from as they'd be too pissed. One year two accountants who were seconded to us for new system testing joined our lunch. The incredibly fearsome ginger one of them got the bill (Chinese, at Gars) and went over the whole thing line by line including demanding of some people 'yes but HOW MUCH of that dish did you eat'. I'm pretty sure we sent them out with Accounts the year after. Can't remember if @WATFORD zero employed her or just had to put up with the secondment

Same place used to have a company party the day before Christmas Eve in the Metropole. All sorts went on at that, mainly because there were a lot of young people working there and it was the pre camera phone 90s. I can't remember (or perhaps won't disclose) many of the gory details but inevitably everyone who worked on Christmas Eve turned up still trashed. @The Wookiee will remember the fun and games....

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Having worked for two breweries I can confirm they couldn’t ever organise a piss up in a ……….!

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Late 80s I worked with a knobhead who was also a proper tightarse. At the Christmas do we'd all chipped in for the food and a decent amount of vino. Knobhead alternated between swilling red wine and bragging about the "Brand new Rover 216 VANDEN PLAS" he'd picked up the week before, "YEAH, TOP OF THE RANGE MATE, WHITE LEATHER INTERIOR".
End of the evening and we're all well lubricated but Knobhead is absolutely leathered, due in no small part to him making sure he'd drunk more than he paid for.
Knobhead's wife arrives in the ROVER VANDEN PLAS to take him home, he gets in and promptly vomits all over the WHITE LEATHER INTERIOR.

I’m an atheist however it’s endings like this that make me doubt myself.

 

[The Wookiee]

Mondays are crazy enough in the workplace with tales of what went on at the weekend. There are some real wags (in the humorous not footballer slag sense of the word). A Chelsea fan exposing his genitals to Tottenham supporters yesterday.

If there was a Christmas party there would be several arrests I would imagine with some of the nutters I have to work with.

Didn’t realise you worked for The Met ?

 

[Arthur]

Only slight amusing story I have is I got incredibly drunk one year and we were asked to leave the venue.....because it was closing. I took offence that we were being slung out (we weren't) as we'd done nothing wrong. Bouncers oiked me out and shut the door behind me. I booted said door in frustration.

This was a Friday night/Saturday morning early 2000s. I'm pretty sure we were away to Scunthorpe the following day and I had my groups train tickets. I lived in London at the time and they had travelled up from Sussex to meet me at the train station. Of course I overslept and was woken by phone calls asking me where I was. I jumped out of bed only to end up in a crumpled mess on my bedroom floor. My big toe was black as your hat where I'd kicked the door the night before. Don't think it was broken but a month or so later the toenail completely fell off.

I did make it to Kings Cross and we did make it to Scunny. Was a pretty subdued day for me though.

Other stories I can tell you about Christmas parties I went to are both pretty dark but neither involve me other than I was at the event.

First one we had a sit down meal at the hotel opposite our office which then turned into a disco afterwards. We had a new sales director who had only been with the company for a matter of weeks. The hotel cloakroom lost his jacket so he proceeded launch a tirade of racial abuse at the attendant accusing her of stealing it. As he was still in his probation period he was told not to bother coming back when he came into work the following morning.

The second is a lot worse a took nearly a year to come to light. We went out for a sit down meal and then on to bar in Farringdon. Everyone had a nice time and there was nothing untoward or so we thought. Fast forward to November the following year and one of the team just didn't turn up for work one day. Nor the next. Several people tried to get in touch with him and couldn't reach him. Everyone started to get worried until this story appeared in the Evening Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/news/cri...an-as-she-walked-home-in-ealing-a3407786.html

I was on the train home and the CEO rang me and said have you got a paper. To which I replied I had, he said look at page X and I just read it in disbelief. That had been the night of our Christmas party the previous year. Shocking as he was the most unassuming bloke ever. He was quiet and generally a nice bloke...or so we thought. He'd obviously been bailed and had this going on for a year and didn't tell anyone about it and just came to work as normal until one day he didn't because Liz had sent him on holiday.

 

[The Wookiee]

Working in the 90s for the IT department of a local financial services company we used to get a 'Christmas lunch' that no one was expected to come back from as they'd be too pissed. One year two accountants who were seconded to us for new system testing joined our lunch. The incredibly fearsome ginger one of them got the bill (Chinese, at Gars) and went over the whole thing line by line including demanding of some people 'yes but HOW MUCH of that dish did you eat'. I'm pretty sure we sent them out with Accounts the year after. Can't remember if @WATFORD zero employed her or just had to put up with the secondment

Same place used to have a company party the day before Christmas Eve in the Metropole. All sorts went on at that, mainly because there were a lot of young people working there and it was the pre camera phone 90s. I can't remember (or perhaps won't disclose) many of the gory details but inevitably everyone who worked on Christmas Eve turned up still trashed. @The Wookiee will remember the fun and games....

I have vague memories

 

[happypig]

Sometime in the 80s a bunch of us telephone engineers booked a christmas party at the Norfolk Hotel. We were a bit rowdy but nothing terrible happened until one of the party (I remember who but I'm not a grass) dropped his guts in the bar right next to where the owner, Alfred Feld (former mayor immortalised on a bus) was sitting under a picture of him and his doris meeting Prince Charles. Anyways it went a bit widdershins after that and we got thrown out, with Feld vowing "You'll never set foot in here again"
We booked it the following year as the Vine Street Social Club.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Gold.

Thread 'An emotional apology to all.' https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/threads/an-emotional-apology-to-all.42216/

Can't belive that was 20 years ago!........

 

[Weststander]

Another dark story.

One of my brothers worked for NatWest Castle Square in the mid 70's, age 16. Their Xmas party was inhouse after early close of business ..... Xmas Eve in those days? He and his mate wandered into a storeroom, they came across a middle aged assistant manager in the process of assaulting a young female who was in distress.

They managed to stop it, I gather he was pinned to the wall and received summary justice.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I worked at the BBC in several departments in 70s/80s. In one such place at xmas there was a deeply introverted middle-aged middle manager. He'd been there forever. Wouldn't say boo to a goose. Except for after the departmental xmas lunch. With drink taken, he'd rampage through the offices looking for female colleagues to, er, ravish. Their collective responses? They'd just lock their office doors until he inevitably gave up and passed out. This apparently had been going on for years without anybody ever thinking of raising a complaint

 

[Justice]

I worked at the BBC in several departments in 70s/80s. In one such place at xmas there was a deeply introverted middle-aged middle manager. He'd been there forever. Wouldn't say boo to a goose. Except for after the departmental xmas lunch. With drink taken, he'd rampage through the offices looking for female colleagues to, er, ravish. Their collective responses? They'd just lock their office doors until he inevitably gave up and passed out. This apparently had been going on for years without anybody ever thinking of raising a complaint

Not sure Jimmy Saville would take any notice

 

[WATFORD zero]

Working in the 90s for the IT department of a local financial services company we used to get a 'Christmas lunch' that no one was expected to come back from as they'd be too pissed. One year two accountants who were seconded to us for new system testing joined our lunch. The incredibly fearsome ginger one of them got the bill (Chinese, at Gars) and went over the whole thing line by line including demanding of some people 'yes but HOW MUCH of that dish did you eat'. I'm pretty sure we sent them out with Accounts the year after. Can't remember if @WATFORD zero employed her or just had to put up with the secondment

Same place used to have a company party the day before Christmas Eve in the Metropole. All sorts went on at that, mainly because there were a lot of young people working there and it was the pre camera phone 90s. I can't remember (or perhaps won't disclose) many of the gory details but inevitably everyone who worked on Christmas Eve turned up still trashed. @The Wookiee will remember the fun and games....

30 years ago They were on secondment. If you remember the Finance Director, she was even scarier and I didn't like to say no

I do remember a Xmas party (different company) where a high flying young manager was caught in the act with another worker in the boardroom. The next day bollocking included the superb line, "but we have to eat off that f***ing table"

 

[oneillco]

After years of being cornered by pissed young kids telling me why they 'deserved a promotion and a pay rise' I realised what is was like on the other side.

I remember a Xmas dinner in a private dining room at the IOD where we were hosted by Michael Howard (don't ask, long story). We spent a lot of time with Sandra Howard who was absolutely stunning, charming and brilliant company, both me and Mrs Wz went home completely besotted by her.

I can hear the conversation in their hotel afterwards, "who were those horrendous Mile Oak and Glasgow council estate couple, thank you so much for keeping them away from me'. Turns out it was her job, that she was very good at

Poor woman married to that slime ball...