This year was a record for me: I’ve been to four holiday luncheons and will soon attend a fifth. I know, some people have many more than that, but for me more than one party is enough to give my vital signs a jump start. Usually I go to just one office party held by our department at a local restaurant. This year I changed offices (because they moved me from one state to another to help out at a different location), so I received two invitations, one boss took me and my peers out for a more private lunch, and three friends and I got together for one last munchdown before the new year dieting: another boss will also hold a lunch next week.
Sometimes an office party is the only time you see some of the people in your office, especially when it’s a 24-hour operation. The same shift personnel often sit together, which is a shame because it deprives people of the chance to meet somebody new. I feel this disconnection keenly because I’m responsible for the paychecks for a multitude of people I have never met because they work after I have already gone home.
Of course offices can’t hold Christmas parties per se (those folks with non-Christmas holidays on their calendars need recognition too), so they’re called “Winter Celebrations” instead. Excuse my bluntness, but I welcome the skiers and ice fishermen to celebrate winter: I’d rather be a snowbird and winter up in Florida or the Caribbean, so I don’t really feel celebratory once the solstice comes. I go to the parties to share human contact and discover what’s new in the world in terms of news, food and frolic. I’ll worry about the weight after New Year’s.
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