Christmas party people
The office Christmas party season is upon us.
Although the annual Christmas bash is a great time for employees to ‘let down their hair down’ and bond, it is also fair to say, that they rarely pass without incident.
We have all heard of those embarrassing office Christmas party stories — the drunken declarations of love; the person criticising the boss at the top of their voice; those who don’t make it home to their own bed. To list but a few.
But what about the people behind the scenes? The taxi driver, the waitress, the bar tender and the hotel housekeeper, who all work tirelessly to ensure that your Christmas party is simply the best.
What do they actually think? Do they dread the thought of Christmas and hearing yet another office party attempting to sing, let alone remember the lyrics to Band Aid’s Do they Know it’s Christmas? Or does it put them in the festive spirit too?
We talk to three people, who this year will be working hard to make sure your Christmas party is remembered for all the right reasons.!
FOR Niall Jordan, a taxi driver and partner in Castletroy Cabs, Limerick, Christmas is his busiest time of the year and he normally really looks forward to it.
“This year?” he laughs. “I would look forward to it a lot more if someone in Met Éireann could predict the long-term weather forecast. Last Christmas the roads were so dangerous.
“I had to drive up to Dublin to go to St Vincent’s hospital on Christmas Eve. Any other time, if you had a run to Dublin you would be delighted, but the roads were so bad, they were lethal. It was a poisoned chalice.’’
Niall, 36, from Castletroy, who runs the taxi service with his brother Fergal, has noticed that the Christmas party season has changed over the last couple of years because of the recession. “There are definitely a lot less office Christmas parties happening. We saw that last year. But what we have noticed instead is that more people are having Christmas parties at home.
“They are big parties, not necessarily people they work with, but lots of friends, 20 people or more, celebrating. We would bring bus loads to and from these parties and the people are always in good form,’’ he explains. Niall works every Christmas Day, and manages to squeeze his dinner in between trips. He gets into the festive spirit by wearing his Santa hat and enjoys helping families be together.
“On Christmas Day, we would do a lot of pick ups from nursing homes or hospitals to bring folks to their families for dinner. You want to get them in the mood, so you would always get into the Christmas spirit,’’ he says.
His own office Christmas party will be in January, when business is quiet, but not all of his colleagues will be able to make it.
“Someone has to work, that’s the nature of the job,’’ he explains.
FOR Christina Valotkiene, 30, the assistant accommodation manager at the four-star Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork, the festive party season is all about lost property.
“The guests, they always lose things,’’ she explains. “They leave things in their rooms or in the conference centre. Their jackets, ties, purses, cameras, phones, bags, shoes. Lots of things.’’
But what about the rooms? Are there any horror stories or Christmas shocks? Apparently not. In fact the worst offenders are students and all the debs celebrating the end of their school days, rather than the arrival of Santa.
“The Christmas party people just lose things. Their rooms are not any messier. No, not at all. We look forward to the Christmas parties. They are so much better than then students or the debs. They are very, very, very messy,’’ she says.
Christina, who has worked at the hotel for seven years, loves Christmas and this year has decided to go abroad with her husband, but will be back in time for New Year.
“The New Year is very hard work as it is wedding week, we will be very busy, but I enjoy it,’’ she adds.
JUST like everywhere else in the country, the build-up to Christmas can take its toll on employees in the service industry.
But despite the long hours, Debbie Allan, 31, a bartender at The Tower Hotel and Leisure Centre in Waterford, loves the Christmas office party season.
“If the party guests stay overnight, and lots do, then I am working a 6pm to 6.30am shift. It takes hours to get everyone out and cleared up. It can be hard because they will all be singing.
“You do think ‘Oh, I just want to go to bed’. Everyone does. But you stick with it and people will listen and eventually finish up. You have to say it in a nice way, but you have to mean business as well,’’ she says.
This Christmas the Tower Hotel’s office party dates are almost all booked out which is “great news’’, says Debbie, who has worked at the hotel for nearly four years. Last year was the worst to be hit by the recession. “Four out of five parties cancelled,” she says.
This year, it will be very busy, but we love it. We will all wear the hats, and sing along to the music, everyone gets into the spirit. It puts me in the Christmas mood. I love it.’’
Surprisingly, Debbie insists she has not seen any misbehaving at any of the Christmas parties because the groups are generally older.
“They would come and have a few drinks, their mulled wine, have their dinner and a dance and that is it really. There is never any trouble,’’ she says.
And the secret to a memorable office Christmas party? “The service, and the way you are treated is important, and once the food, the company and the entertainment is good, then you will have a great party,” she says.
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