November 14, 2017 at 11:02 am
phonetictalk - Tuesday, November 14, 2017 10:32 AMbkubicek - Monday, November 13, 2017 9:04 PMNow, I think they have to be labeled Holiday parties so no one is offended. Sometimes people are too easily offended.Using "holiday" instead of Christmas didn't come about because people were offended, but rather because companies wanted to be more inclusive.
If you have a company of 300 people, of which some may not be practicing Christians, and you call it a Christmas party, you're deliberately choosing to ignore the traditions & faith of anyone for whom celebrating Jesus is definitely not part of their beliefs. Now, maybe they don't care. Or do care, but wouldn't say anything. Either way, the inclusive thing to do is not call it a Christmas party. (Especially with many other perfectly acceptable options: holiday party, end of year party, December celebration, etc.)
In the same way, if you have a team of 10 men, and then a woman joins the team, continuing to refer to the team as "Gentlemen" would not be the inclusive thing to do, regardless or not of whether she is offended. Being inclusive is the minimum you can do to make a person feel welcome.
Saying "sometimes people are too easily offended" suggests that you don't like the change and that you blame people who are not like you for forcing the change upon you. It's a privileged position to take, especially since the alternatives don't exclude you (or anyone) in the same way that Christmas does. Having to say "Everyone" instead of "Gentleman" isn't a personal slight, no matter how long "Gentleman" has been the tradition.
I'll agree that sometimes, particularly in the US, things can get silly, where holiday becomes a euphemism for Christmas. But the sentiment behind using the word "holiday" is one I can't object to.
It seems like where I work the tone has been to keep the christmas spirit but drop the religious over tones. So we still have christmas trees and poinsettias in the lobby but the decorations are generic globes and lights and there's no nativity scene or the like. A lot of companies also still do secret santa events which are usually fun, so basically just the generic holiday stuff that everyone can do. That seems like a reasonable compromise in the US.
November 14, 2017 at 11:19 am
My wife was an FTE at a local technology contracting company. The owner always had an oyster, shrimp boil in December. Other than the supporting office staff, the employees and contractors were all developers or DBAs. It was the one Christmas party that I looked forward to where I could get my fill of oysters. For liability reasons, they changed it to BYOB; but they did supply soft drinks.
November 15, 2017 at 1:32 am
phonetictalk - Tuesday, November 14, 2017 10:32 AMbkubicek - Monday, November 13, 2017 9:04 PMNow, I think they have to be labeled Holiday parties so no one is offended. Sometimes people are too easily offended.Using "holiday" instead of Christmas didn't come about because people were offended, but rather because companies wanted to be more inclusive.
If you have a company of 300 people, of which some may not be practicing Christians, and you call it a Christmas party, you're deliberately choosing to ignore the traditions & faith of anyone for whom celebrating Jesus is definitely not part of their beliefs. Now, maybe they don't care. Or do care, but wouldn't say anything. Either way, the inclusive thing to do is not call it a Christmas party. (Especially with many other perfectly acceptable options: holiday party, end of year party, December celebration, etc.)
In the same way, if you have a team of 10 men, and then a woman joins the team, continuing to refer to the team as "Gentlemen" would not be the inclusive thing to do, regardless or not of whether she is offended. Being inclusive is the minimum you can do to make a person feel welcome.
Saying "sometimes people are too easily offended" suggests that you don't like the change and that you blame people who are not like you for forcing the change upon you. It's a privileged position to take, especially since the alternatives don't exclude you (or anyone) in the same way that Christmas does. Having to say "Everyone" instead of "Gentleman" isn't a personal slight, no matter how long "Gentleman" has been the tradition.
I'll agree that sometimes, particularly in the US, things can get silly, where holiday becomes a euphemism for Christmas. But the sentiment behind using the word "holiday" is one I can't object to.
Actually this Idea that somehow you have to water down or neuter your own traditions in order not to exclude or offend is a peculiarly Anglo-Saxon one - celebrating Christmas does not invalidate anyone else's belief system except for the one group that is easily offended , White Secular Liberals . This minority group is always offended on behalf of one group or another claiming that celebrating something traditionally western , especially if it is Christian is exclusive. They tried this type of nonsense in the UK a few years ago when Birmingham (UK) city council tried to rename the Christmas period "Winterval" - they backed down after it was clear that it wasn't a very popular move locally . So I may not be attending my company's Christmas party this year , but I know a lot of my Sikh and Hindu colleagues will be .
November 15, 2017 at 7:31 am
Corporate or municipal sponsored "Christmas" parties (and even most family gatherings), have practically nothing to do with the Christian tradition in the first place, so changing the name is simply a matter of superficial re-branding.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
November 15, 2017 at 7:35 am
I think if you can make the parties inclusive, you might as well. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, (late?) Samhain, Eid, random-mid-winter-made-up-whatever. Sure.
November 15, 2017 at 7:52 am
Geoff.Sturdy - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 1:32 AMActually this Idea that somehow you have to water down or neuter your own traditions in order not to exclude or offend is a peculiarly Anglo-Saxon one - celebrating Christmas does not invalidate anyone else's belief system except for the one group that is easily offended , White Secular Liberals . This minority group is always offended on behalf of one group or another claiming that celebrating something traditionally western , especially if it is Christian is exclusive. They tried this type of nonsense in the UK a few years ago when Birmingham (UK) city council tried to rename the Christmas period "Winterval" - they backed down after it was clear that it wasn't a very popular move locally . So I may not be attending my company's Christmas party this year , but I know a lot of my Sikh and Hindu colleagues will be .
Your basic premise is flawed, so your conclusion is also flawed.Being inclusive in no way waters down or neuters your own tradition.
Drew
J. Drew Allen
Business Intelligence Analyst
Philadelphia, PA
November 15, 2017 at 8:08 am
bkubicek - Monday, November 13, 2017 9:04 PMComments posted to this topic are about the item Holiday parties: Do you love them or hate them?
Pretty much hate them. Especially since, at my company, spouses are excluded (unless they also work for the company!). For me, it's just a lot of time I'd rather be spending with my family.
November 15, 2017 at 8:40 am
bkubicek - Tuesday, November 14, 2017 9:11 AMRod at work - Tuesday, November 14, 2017 8:59 AMI've never worked for any company that had Christmas parties involving "adult beverages", so getting drunk or not was never an issue.All the companies I worked for always had the holiday party during working hours. Don't know why, but they did/do.
For the most part, I enjoy the parties. At my previous job since it was such a small company spending time with anyone was spending time with those you normally spent time with. At my current job there's over 3000 employees, so there's lots of opportunity mingle with someone you don't know too well. Also, these Christmas parties are basically required attendance. So, there's little getting out of it. At least not for me.
By the way, I consider myself more of an ambivert.
So if you don't attend what happens? They require attendance since it is during work hours? It seems like if someone really didn't like such events they could just take a sick day or something?
Ben
What happens is someone will find work that needs to be done, during those parties. People find ways of getting around it.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
November 15, 2017 at 8:43 am
Beatrix Kiddo - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 7:35 AMI think if you can make the parties inclusive, you might as well. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, (late?) Samhain, Eid, random-mid-winter-made-up-whatever. Sure.
Don't forget Festivus.
November 16, 2017 at 8:35 am
Kept meaning to comment on this editorial, finally got around to it...
I'm not a holiday / company party sort of person. I tend not to be one of the socializers around the office and after work I go home. But, despite my original plan to not go to our upcoming holiday party (which costs $20, but is during work hours at an off-site location and will likely allow people to leave early for the day, and being on my work-from-home day,) I'm starting to think I might go, if only for "political" reasons.
I was chatting with one of the managers about it, and their recommendation was to go, as getting out there with the other higher-ups and getting some "face time" is part-and-parcel of getting that next pay grade increase. I work in government, so while there are step increases in each grade, the big pay bumps come when you move up a grade.
So, despite not really wanting to go, and being the sort who really doesn't socialize easily, and having to actually change out of jeans and a t-shirt that day, and having to fork over $20 to get hall food, I'm thinking about going after all...
November 16, 2017 at 8:39 am
jasona.work - Thursday, November 16, 2017 8:35 AMKept meaning to comment on this editorial, finally got around to it...I'm not a holiday / company party sort of person. I tend not to be one of the socializers around the office and after work I go home. But, despite my original plan to not go to our upcoming holiday party (which costs $20, but is during work hours at an off-site location and will likely allow people to leave early for the day, and being on my work-from-home day,) I'm starting to think I might go, if only for "political" reasons.
I was chatting with one of the managers about it, and their recommendation was to go, as getting out there with the other higher-ups and getting some "face time" is part-and-parcel of getting that next pay grade increase. I work in government, so while there are step increases in each grade, the big pay bumps come when you move up a grade.So, despite not really wanting to go, and being the sort who really doesn't socialize easily, and having to actually change out of jeans and a t-shirt that day, and having to fork over $20 to get hall food, I'm thinking about going after all...
That is a good point. Face time with higher ups another good reason to go to company event.
Ben
November 16, 2017 at 9:11 am
P Jones - Tuesday, November 14, 2017 1:48 AMMany of us who are limited company contractors in the UK consider our IR35 tax status before accepting invitations to corporate events, Christmas parties or away days since they are employee perks and we do not wish to be seen as employees.
Apart from that there are all the problems of late night transport - if I stay for a party, I have to find a hotel nearby in the city (expensive) or stay sober and drive an hour plus home which makes it no fun.
And the old adage applies - you can choose your friends but not your colleagues!
+10000
...
November 16, 2017 at 11:51 am
I have been lucky to work for companies that had very enjoyable parties, even though I'm more of an introvert.
My first job back in the 80's had some theatrically minded employees, so every year included a skit. One year it was about Scrooge (division manager) getting convinced by the spirits to finally approve Tiny Tim's multi-million dollar e-beam machine. (And he actually got it eventually, don't know if the skit had anything to do with it.)
Some places had people with a knack for coming up with unusual games. Some gave us expensive dinners and drinks completely free.
But I've never felt like one wasn't worth going to.
November 20, 2017 at 12:57 am
drew.allen - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 7:52 AMGeoff.Sturdy - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 1:32 AMActually this Idea that somehow you have to water down or neuter your own traditions in order not to exclude or offend is a peculiarly Anglo-Saxon one - celebrating Christmas does not invalidate anyone else's belief system except for the one group that is easily offended , White Secular Liberals . This minority group is always offended on behalf of one group or another claiming that celebrating something traditionally western , especially if it is Christian is exclusive. They tried this type of nonsense in the UK a few years ago when Birmingham (UK) city council tried to rename the Christmas period "Winterval" - they backed down after it was clear that it wasn't a very popular move locally . So I may not be attending my company's Christmas party this year , but I know a lot of my Sikh and Hindu colleagues will be .Your basic premise is flawed, so your conclusion is also flawed.Being inclusive in no way waters down or neuters your own tradition.
Drew
So don't address the point I'm making instead make a generic comment about my assumption being "flawed" - I provided a real world example to back up my point so to say there is a flaw in my argument without backing that up is ridiculous, but the dismissive attitude is typical of secular white liberal thinking.
November 20, 2017 at 2:17 am
Geoff.Sturdy - Monday, November 20, 2017 12:57 AMdrew.allen - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 7:52 AMGeoff.Sturdy - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 1:32 AM]Actually this Idea that somehow you have to water down or neuter your own traditions in order not to exclude or offend is a peculiarly Anglo-Saxon one - celebrating Christmas does not invalidate anyone else's belief system except for the one group that is easily offended , White Secular Liberals . This minority group is always offended on behalf of one group or another claiming that celebrating something traditionally western , especially if it is Christian is exclusive. They tried this type of nonsense in the UK a few years ago when Birmingham (UK) city council tried to rename the Christmas period "Winterval" - they backed down after it was clear that it wasn't a very popular move locally . So I may not be attending my company's Christmas party this year , but I know a lot of my Sikh and Hindu colleagues will be .Your basic premise is flawed, so your conclusion is also flawed.Being inclusive in no way waters down or neuters your own tradition.
Drew
So don't address the point I'm making instead make a generic comment about my assumption being "flawed" - I provided a real world example to back up my point so to say there is a flaw in my argument without backing that up is ridiculous, but the dismissive attitude is typical of secular white liberal thinking.
Actually the premise that Winterval was so named to avoid giving offence is flawed. Birmingham council decided to use Winterval as a term to cover all the events it was putting on in the late November\December period. These included the Christmas light switch-on, Christmas shopping and Christmas markets and carol services and also Children in Need, Diwali and New Years Eve. Rather than market them all separately it was decided to use the umbrella term 'Winterval'. At no point was the intention avoid saying Christmas. Unfortunately the term was picked up by the media and not just by the more strident tabloids. This coverage led to the myth that refuses to die to this day.
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