The Ghost of Christmas Parties Past

If you're currently unemployed or part-time, you might become a little wistful this time of year.
No, not about the Christmas bonus. It was never as much as you thought it would be, remember? I know in your heart of hearts you're yearning for the office Christmas party. It was always the traditional time to share warm fuzzies with your esteemed colleagues and the management that you held in the utmost regard. To give thanks for yet another year of productivity and camaraderie.

But, for us nontraditional types, it was the perfect storm of booze, bad judgment and overwrought emotions. I have weathered some of THE most cataclysmic end-of-year bashes. And I relish every last bit of bad behavior that I witnessed and perpetrated.

At the top of my list, as well as many other people's, is the Leo Burnett Bonus Day. Leo Burnett is a megaglobal advertising agency based here in Chicago that for many years gave a 15% bonus check to all its employees on that day, followed by individual group lunches and mutli-location parties until the wee hours of the morning. The instances of inappropriate behavior are too many to cite. Just let your imagination run wild.....advertising folks, a year's worth of sexual tension, large amounts of money, and rivers of booze. Ouch.

In retrospect, perhaps even more significant is what I now refer to as Green Saturday. Hordes of hungover Leo B. employees hitting the streets with nothing but retail therapy in mind. Cha-ching!

I will be fondly remembering some other Christmas party shenanigans in my next couple of posts. In the meantime, feel free to share any of the heartwarming memories that you have. If indeed, you can remember them.