Christmas Horror Stories

Yeah, as bad as that was, people actually really cared about the product. I remember going into the office once after 1 a.m. to drop off expenses and there was an agate guy and a slot waiting for a late game (that did not include the local team) to end. As it turned out, one of the teams playing was a favorite of the ME, so that factored into the decision to stay over an hour after deadline for a baseball score.

People used to get reamed for things that nobody would give half a shit about now.

It's too bad there was never any middle ground.

 

One more holiday meal remembrance from my former employer, this one from Thanksgiving:

As I said in a previous post, they'd consistently serve good holiday meals there, not counting the year we had cold cuts. But one year, they changed caterers.

The previous caterer would deliver and set out the food at 6 p.m., leave, then come back around 10 p.m. or so to clean up and take the leftovers away. The new caterer brought the food, which was excellent as usual. But the cleanup process apparently was not part of his job description. So the leftovers sat in the breakroom all weekend. None of the top editors worked until Monday, and nobody else from the skeleton crew that worked the four-day weekend wanted to take on the cleanup/removal chores, which were a major, time-consuming undertaking. The custodial crew was off all weekend, too. The smell was ripening by Saturday night (I was off Sunday), and I can only imagine what it was like Monday morning. Later, I heard that the top editor (normally an even-tempered guy) threw a tantrum when he arrived at 8 a.m. Monday, saw the mess and smelled the stench.

That led to the paper making arrangements with a homeless shelter to take the leftovers away every holiday in the hours after the newsroom had eaten, so at least the whole fiasco wound up helping a good cause.

 

It's funny/sad how rules that had been established, honed and enforced for decades were thrown out the window so fast in the Newsrooms of the Fewture.

Who caved? Here's a hint: It wasn't the night shift.

 

Ahhh, holiday party today at work. Company provided a spiral ham, a turkey breast and drinks...we brought the sides....

Oh, did I mention that by the time nightside got there it was a ham bone carcass and a few scraps of turkey...and some pita bread. Yup, dayside demolished the spread.

After a bunch of complaints by people who didn't bring lunches...management said they would give a similar dinner to nightside....at a later date, or they would order pizza. Vote went for pizza (since most had not eaten yet) and so there ya have it. Merry Happy Ho Ho.

 

We had one year where they gave us a $20 gift certificate to a local grocery store. It was one of those "grocery" stores that is twice as expensive as the supermarkets. I went there, bought $20 worth of Mountain Dew and that was that.

A few months later I was in the office and one of the agate guys had a bag from the store and I said, "You go that place, it's a total ripoff." and he told me that he took a stack of the certificates off the secretaries' desk and hadn't had to pay for food for the last few months.

 

Had a situation like that too. The excuse was, "well, they're advertisers." I think I went in for a soda and pocketed the rest.

 

I happened to be in a pharmacy one time years ago on the day the employees got their holiday bonus -- a gift certificate for the store.
There was a line of people buying a pack of gum and getting cash for the rest.

 

Shortly after Thanksgiving my first year, I came into the office and there was a very nice invitation to a Christmas party in my mailbox. I looked at it briefly and tossed it aside.

Then, I watched as people came in, took the invitation and immediately threw it into the garbage without even opening it. After three people did it, I asked one guy what the deal was and he said, "Read the last line on the invite." which said, that it cost $20 per person or whatever it was.

Insane.

 

Came in tonight to my part-time gig and saw an unexpected envelope with my name on it. Inside was a Christmas card signed by the publisher and $50.

 

Can't think of any, other than losing the Christmas bonus many years ago and the company not providing any food for either Thanksgiving or Christmas anymore. Not that I care that much. usually eat more than plenty before I come in on Thanksgiving. Have some non-work-related stories, though. Maybe we should open it up a bit?

 

Since when do we let topics stand in the way of what people write on here?

 

Of course you can open the topic up. This thread has become pretty interesting. Let's hear a non-work related story ...