Truth be told, I'm experiencing an attack of nerves brought on by our Christmas office party. I've always felt uneasy at events that involve a collection of people who are in your life simply because they're paid to be. To me, it has the same logic as throwing a party with other people in your borough because you all eat chutney. My colleagues are lovely people. I enjoy working with them - probably more than any company that I've worked at. But I've never been able to shake off the desire not to mix my work and social life. It makes me nervous when there's an opportunity to break the barriers down. It makes me doubly nervous because those that try to break the barriers tend to do so after having spent all evening injecting vodka into their eyeballs. My social caution seems to be in a minority though during the festive season. Many people seem to be natural office socialites and thrive on bringing their work and private lives together. Outside the festive season though, I'm frequently surprised when I find out that colleague A has attended the wedding of colleague B or that colleague C has organised a single's night with colleague D. I like to think that because I have a healthy social and family life outside work, I have enough on my plate to fill up my life. In reality, Mrs 'Man in a Suit' informs me, it's because I'm a curmudgeonly anti-social idiot. As ever, my loving wife pricks my conscience when I waver about participating in these sorts of occasions. My theory is that as we spend two thirds of our lives in close proximity to colleagues so we should, in theory, be allowed not to attend events outside work. She disagrees on the basis that beings friends with your colleagues is important. Possibly…..although isn't it enough just get on with people and just do your work? I suspect that the Mars/Venus split is alive and well here. In any case, I urge everyone to join my campaign to pressure the UN to insert a clause into the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating that: "It is the inalienable right of every man or woman to decide, without fear of harassment, injury or peer group disapproval, not to attend their office Christmas Party ". On a lighter note, in Iraq, Bush's military shock and awe campaign has been replaced by something much more satisfying.
Happy Curmudgeonmas, everyone.
