... what is your worst / most thoughtless Christmas gift or experience?My current one involves the contract firm that I am working for in Florida. They are making tons of money off of the project that I am on - their biggest to date and the only one going at the moment. For the last month, we have had to endure all of the buzz about the extravagant Xmas party that they were throwing at their New York headquarters. They were flying the executives in from Texas, California, and Florida (along with their spouses) for a 3 day bash at one of the premier hotels in NYC - the big party, fancy meals, show tickets, etc. Apparently a grand time was had by all who attended.... and for the unwashed masses who actually made the money for them so that they could throw this party? After a little grumbling, they reluctantly decided to have lunch for us in the office - grocery store sub sandwiches cut into 3 pieces (limit 1 per employee), a platter of chicken tenders (1 per employee limit), one small fruit platter, and 2 - 1 gal jugs of plain wrap sweet tea for 45 people. If you want something else to drink, the vending machines are down the hall . We were told to bring a $10 gift so that we could play Bad Santa - a game that could probably be fun under the right circumstances, but these weren't it. We were each given a number. In numerical order, you could either open one of the presents or steal something that someone else had opened - you get the idea....The whole process took a total of 1 hour and 15 min. While we were waiting for the kind words about how grateful they were that we had made them so much money this year, we started a pool to predict what would be said and what would be distributed. My guess was kind words and a Buy one - get one free Jelly of the Month Club membership (hence the Christmas Vacation reference). Others predicted gift cards - some others expected kind words and nothing else....No one won. At the end of Bad Santa , these inspiring words were spoken by the lady in charge: OK, get back to work 
I guess we were lucky that they didn't dock us the 45 minutes that lunch ran long.
My resume went out that afternoon - on their time......and I have another company that desperately wants me after the first of the year.
P.S. Did I mention that they decided at the last minute to shut down for the two weeks of Christmas and New Years?Unpaid, of course - Merry F'íng Christmas! Bitter, party of one - your table is ready....
I guess we were lucky that they didn't dock us the 45 minutes that lunch ran long.My resume went out that afternoon - on their time......and I have another company that desperately wants me after the first of the year. P.S. Did I mention that they decided at the last minute to shut down for the two weeks of Christmas and New Years?Unpaid, of course - Merry F'íng Christmas! Bitter, party of one - your table is ready....
