November 30, 2007 - Of Dreaded Office Holiday Parties

Despite laying pretty low after my disastrous review, I have been asked to plan our office Christmas Party. This is mainly due to the fact that I took over the dreaded office pitch-in last year, which had become an out of control monthly mess. My main ambition in doing this was to stop the annoying monthly drudge and replace it with a quarterly/holiday version that doesn't annoy people that much.

I know that for most people, me included really, the idea of an office pitch-in is like a circle of Dante's Hell, but the thing that is surprising (though not really if you watch The Office), is that a lot of people look forward to the pitch-ins for either a chance of eating a big meal or for their birthday recognition. Personally, I think you're in crazy town if the birthday pitch-in is the highlight of your birthday, but hey, I'm not needy like that. Plus, you get into the "popularity" of people because some people are more inclined to participate if a popular person's birthday is in the offing. Yes, it seems we are never very far away from High School.

Anyway, here I sit, not exactly happy with my job (okay...downright disgruntled) and I have to plan a festive party to celebrate the holidays. To say my mind is not in the right place is probably the understatement of the century. I suppose if I let my negative side take charge, it would end up with some sort of twisted Halloween-esque, Nightmare Before Christmas party with a pinata shaped like my boss, but I think that is much more of "going out in a blaze of glory" thing than I would ever attempt. Plus, for the most part, I really love my co-workers, and I would never want to make them suffer. So, now I have $700 to play with, which includes catering (appetizers and desserts). This is not a lot of money really, but we are having it in the afternoon in our lunchroom, so at least I do not have to worry about a venue. Any ideas from my peanut gallery?