Merry Christmas!

Or not.

We were informed today that our Christmas party has been canceled due to "cost containment efforts."

Now, not that I care. I never go. But still This is sad, sad stuff.

 

Re: Merry Chistmas!

If that is the only thing cancelled, figure you're doing well.

Hell, for all we know, Christmas itself might be cancelled. No worries, the mall here is about to go into foreclosure anyway.

 

Re: Merry Chistmas!

We haven't had a Chistmas (sic) party in four years. Welcome to the club.

 

Re: Merry Chistmas!

How I long for the days when Christmas parties were canceled on account of wanton debauchery.
And calling it off in April? Damn, that's a frightening forecast.

 

The funniest thing (well, not really; the saddest thing) is that we already axed 20 people THIS YEAR. So the party would be for 20 less folks!

 

Christmas parties are for people who get off work at 5 p.m. anyway.

 

Over the years, we've gone from an all-day catered affair to take care of the day and night folks, to food from our in-house cafeteria for noon and 6 p.m. settings only, to a bring-your-own pot luck to nothing.

I still remember the year when we mentioned to someone that Super Bowl meant we wouldn't be able to go out for dinner, and the marketing department for some reason showed up with a deli spread that would have fed three times the people we had working. Don't know how we pulled that one off.

 

Christmas parties? Hmm. I know nothing about these.

 

I know when Christmas is. It's one of the holiday weeks that I don't get to see my family because my boss decides to go on vacation. But, then again, when he's not here, it is sort of a party.

 

Used to get a free turkey (or two or more, depending on who didn't show up to claim theirs) at Thanksgiving and a bonus week of pay at Christmas ... all within the past 10 years. And on top of that, working at a group of weeklies we'd get basically a week off around the holidays, too.

Now? Nope. But we're still working and no one's been cut, either. Be thankful for what you've got, I guess.

 

Christmas party? That's flying-car future for newspapers these days. Way, way ahead. I'm excited when my editor sends out a budget that runs into next week.

 

Memo to everyone in journalism:

On account of the ongoing economic crisis, Christmas has been cancelled this year. It will no longer be a paid holiday, but senior employees may elect to use one of their furlough days on that date, provided there are enough grunts remaining to actually get out the paper. We thank all of you for your efforts to make our paper economically strong and viable through these tough times.

Sincerely,
Ebenezer Scrooge
Publisher

P.S. Since Christmas has been cancelled, there will be no need to consider Christmas bonuses.