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Author Topic: Christmas at the office: harassment? Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-11-2005 10:48 PM                     I agree with Leo that LACK of religious Faith would qualify as situation "A". I agree with Richard that a traumatic event on the holiday would qualfy as situation "F". (Remeber the movie, Gremlins?! ) I agree with Joe that one's private work area should remain off-limits to others decorating it with unwanted stuff. (Oh, No! I just agreed with Joe on something! ) The thing is that the only two situations out of the six we have identified that require the "harrassee" to spell out their feelings on the matter. (Religious proscription.) The other four require nothing more than a simple, "No, thank you." from the person who doesn't want to be bothered. There's a guy who works with me who just doesn't care to celebrate Christmas with the people he works with. Christmas is a family holiday for him. Now, since I work at a Catholic college, ALL business throughout the ENTIRE institution comes to a grinding halt on the day of the Christmas party. Instead of people asking, "Are you going to the Christmas party?" they say things like, "When you come to the Christmas party..." The boss came up to me and this guy one day and said something like, "See you at the party!" When he replied that he wasn't going, the boss got this look like somebody just shot his puppy. Some excuse was made like, "I have to go home to my family" then later on, he confided in me that he was celebrating Christmas with family and, besides, he just didn't LIKE most of the people at work to celebrate Christmas with them. But the moral of the story is that, even at a strictly religious institution like Mercyhurst, when one guy simply said, "No, thank you.", everybody else had the common courtessey to leave him the hell alone when he didn't want to be bothered. Maybe we should all take turns going out to Utah with Dave and bitch-slapping some sense into that "Little Miss Jingle Bells"!  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 12-12-2005 12:09 AM                     Oy Vey...what a topic! Let me give y'all a little Jewish perspective. Even when I was in elementary school (public school), the classrooms would be full of Christmas activity. And even at that early age, it would be a struggle for me to not participate. And of course, the public school would have "Holiday Assemblies" with Christmas being the theme. And if lucky, maybe one Hanukah song would be played during the assembly...and some obscure one at that. But throughout my elementary education, my Mom would come to school and do a Hanukah presentation. Now, in the Jewish religion, Hanukah is actually a very minor holiday. It is basically the celebration of a military victory. And in Israel, gift giving is rare. The gift giving thing is an American thing....influenced by Christmas. And even when I was in the USAF, it was customary for the Squadron to be broken into two groups...one having 5 days off for Christmas, and the other having 5 days off for New Year. Now, not being Christian, every year I would make the offer to my superiors that I work through these two Holidays, granted that I be given time off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as the "High Holidays", as they are known, are the most important of the Jewish holidays. And my request was always denied. Consequently, I would always have to take personal leave so that I could have the High Holidays off. Now, when I was stationed at Norton AFB, I was usually able to do this. But when I transferred to Travis AFB, this became impossible. Why? Because every year at the High Holidays, Travis AFB would have a major exercise, and many a time I was lucky to be able to attend services for a few hours! So, out of respect to strangers I always say "Happy Holiday". But there are many aspects of the Christmas Holiday that totally perplex me...maybe some of you can explain? Why do you celebrate your holiest day by cutting down a tree instead of planting one? Celebrating the holiest Cristian day by destroying life? And just this past week, there was a major news story stating that many parishes would be closed on Christmas and would hold no service due to low attendance? How sad??? And for as long as I could remember, I never saw kids having an understanding of what Christmas is about? It was always about how many gifts one recieved. And the comments about Hanukah were always "Boy your lucky, getting one gift a day for each day of Hanukah!" How sad is it when a religions holiest day is soooo comericalized that people don't even know about its meaning? K.  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-12-2005 04:28 PM                     ********************************************************************** FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: October 01, 2005 RE: Christmas Party I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along. And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees! Our CEO will make a special announcement at that time! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Patty ********************************************************************** FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: October 02, 2005 RE: Holiday Party In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party." The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians or those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas tree present. No Christmas carols sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment. Happy now? Happy Holidays to you and your family. Patty ********************************************************************** FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: October 03, 2005 RE: Holiday Party Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed to handle this? Somebody? Forget about the gifts exchange, no gifts exchange are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy. NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED. ********************************************************************** FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director To: All Employees DATE: October 04, 2005 RE: Holiday Party What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs. Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party- or else package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy. Will that work? Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms. Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men, each will have their own table. Yes, there will be flower arrangement for the Gay men's table. To the person asking permission to cross dress, no cross-dressing allowed though. We will have booster seats for short people. Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control the salt used in the food we suggest for those people with high blood pressure to taste first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry! Did I miss anything?!?!? Patty ********************************************************************** FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Fucking Employees DATE: October 05, 2005 RE: The Fucking Holiday Party Vegetarian pricks I've had it with you people!!! We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your fucking salad bar, including organic tomatoes. But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream right NOW! I hope you all have a rotten holiday! Drive drunk and die, The Bitch from HELL!!!!!!!! ********************************************************************** FROM: Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director DATE: October 06, 2005 RE: Patty Lewis and Holiday Party I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery and I'll continue to forward your cards to her. In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd off with full pay. Happy Holidays!  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-12-2005 06:31 PM                  Thanks Gerard for putting all the posts in this thread in their proper perspective...  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-12-2005 07:38 PM                        I have a beautiful aluminum Christmas tree, with color wheel.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-12-2005 07:43 PM                     Is that the Texas Instruments DLP Digital Tree?  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Jorgenson Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1002 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: Feb 2005 posted 12-12-2005 08:33 PM                        quote: Will Kutler Celebrating the holiest Cristian day by destroying life? Nah, Christians celebrate the holiest Christian day by dying eggs, hiding them & / or hunting for them.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-13-2005 02:44 AM                        I went hunting for easter eggs last year with the family, but everyone at the easter egg hung got thier panties in a ruffle when I ripped out a .50 caliber semi-automatic and started letting those damned easter eggs have it! On to Christmas at the office, and the rest of my take, or perhaps my take on everyone elses take so far... Gerard my man!!! Excellent posting!! It helps to put some humor into these kinds of situations. When you work for an international giant that has 80 thousand employees in 27 different countries, it is hard to accomodate the various different activities that may arise during the holiday season. Because our company is very diverse, things can get very complicated, so we are asked to have sensitivity to others when showing our enthusiasm for the season. We are asked to remember not to discuss politics, religieon, medical histories of a very personal nature, anything that could offend someone else, becuase this is our work, and as we are involved with very highly sensitive information, we should not create any type of work environment for anyone that could be considered uncomfortable or hostile. While our office has the normal trappings of the holidays; christmas trees, minhoras, stars of david, whatever the thing is that kwanza has, and the rest, you know to be diverse, what is missing is decorations on all the cubicles... ...except for my team. Miss know it all decided to take it upon herself to decorate for the team. One person has since taken down the decorations on her cubicle... turns out she is jewish... the response was "sorry, I didn't know. If you didn't want them you should have spoken up". I on the other hand am not jewish, just a mean old man who chooses not to associate with any of these people in this way, and has many deep feelings about christmas time, none of which are any of thier business anyway. My wife suggested decorating my stocking that they provided me with slogans and logos of things that have nothing to do with christmas, and sewing the opening of the stocking shut, and cutting open the bottom. She also suggested I should decorate the hell out of my cubicle with everything non christmas... like easter, halloween, thanksgiving, valentines day, whatever works. Christmas for me has very deep meaning, and with it brings great joy, and pain. Same for birthdays. I share these times with my family, and my family alone. They share the pain with me in private for what has been lost, and together we find joy in what we still have together. For my family, christmas is something more than a cheap commercialization of a coopted pagan holiday. It is a time to remember why we are here on this earth and why we have family. I have decided to live with the beast from beneath the bowels of hell, for the moment. It is only a matter of time before she prices herself out of a job, or I be elevated to a position of authority where I can help price her out of a job. Revenge may be a dish that is best served cold, but Karma's a bitch! Ciao  |  IP: Logged Joshua Waaland Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: Cleveland, Ohio Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-13-2005 05:38 AM                     Gerard, that post was friggin hilarious! It is so true though in today's culture.  |  IP: Logged Erica Peterson Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Toronto, ON, Canada Registered: Jul 2003 posted 12-13-2005 11:30 AM                        I think you should put up a Festivus pole.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 12-13-2005 11:36 AM                     Gerard: K  |  IP: Logged William T. Parr Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 823 From: Cedar Park, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 12-13-2005 01:57 PM                     Dave, I am in the same boat with ya. I can not stand most of the folks I work with at my state job. At least not on he state side as I work for a Contractor that has the current contract for Network support. I do like most of the people that work with my company, but since we get rolled into the States Christmas parties and such I have chosen not to participate. I too have been forced to try and participate. I finally just told them I was not going to and to leave me alone about the subjet as it had already borderlined and crossed over to harassment and my freedom of Religion. As a christian I do celebrate Christmas, but will have to admit that over the past 15 years or so it has become so damned commercialized that it is sickening to say the least. All we do at Christmas in my family now is get together, excahnge a few small gifts and enjoy our time together. I like the memo's too Gerard they do put things into perspective. Happy Holidays all  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-13-2005 07:06 PM                     While the memos provide amusement, I find the last memo contains a solution: quote: Gerard S. Cohen In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd off with full pay. I think most working people would rather receive recognition in their paycheck and in time off, rather than in the somewhat forced joviality of an office party.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-13-2005 07:13 PM                        I definitely agree with that. Just because I work with people doesn't mean I want to spend time with those same people pretending to have fun.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-13-2005 07:29 PM                  quote: hhot Joe Boi Just because I work with people doesn't mean I want to spend time with those same people pretending to have fun. While Joe and I have not worked together; I've enjoyed ALL the personal time he and I spent together...  |  IP: Logged

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