I hate Christmas time at my office for this very reason. I work for an oil and gas outsourcing company. We have loads of vendors. We get breakfast on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays all year round. We get fresh cookies in the afternoon on Wednesday but all hell breaks loose around the holidays.

They not only deliver the day to day things at the office but we get crazy gifts. Every year I get a huge ham and a turduckenLink. It's such a glorious waste. I never have anybody over and the places I go always have too much food at the holidays but I always find someone who could really use it (most people in the office do the same).

I think there is only one thing that we look forward too and it comes from the wife of an employee. She makes the best homemade candies and fudge in the world. They are always carefully packaged and there is more than enough for everyone to get what they like. I only get to see this fellow a couple of times a year and get to see his wife at Christmas when she comes. You can bet we all rush to thank her while she is there.

May I suggest a lottery for the baskets if they aren't spoken for. The first year I was with this company it got nasty so my partner and I arraigned a name draw for the baskets. Everyone who wants to participate puts their name in the hat and since we never want them we draw names. Hasn't been a problem since.

May I suggest a lottery for the baskets if they aren't spoken for. The first year I was with this company it got nasty so my partner and I arraigned a name draw for the baskets. Everyone who wants to participate puts their name in the hat and since we never want them we draw names. Hasn't been a problem since.

We started doing that two years ago! It works out well however, there are still the few, the same people, who will protest and whine, so it's like there's no winning with them. I don't even put my name in anymore because of that.

I think there is only one thing that we look forward too and it comes from the wife of an employee. She makes the best homemade candies and fudge in the world. They are always carefully packaged and there is more than enough for everyone to get what they like. I only get to see this fellow a couple of times a year and get to see his wife at Christmas when she comes. You can bet we all rush to thank her while she is there.

That's nice! We have a wife of one person who does something similar! And another client who used to do that as well, but she's moved on. What a coincident uh!

I have the ultimate tool for your Christmas office war (well, not the ultimate, but close enough...you'll have to find the upgrade yourself. I'm not giving it away, just on the off chance I might one day have a cubicle near yours. I need the long range action, personally).

Anyway, here 'tis. It's a bit pricey, but I think most cubicle jockeys would agree, money well spent:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/86b8/

Haha, funny Gid! [picks self up off floor] hee haaaa....can you imagine!  

Ah yes, what passes for gratitude among some employees could easily be mistaked for childish bickering.

When I worked for Bell Ambulance they treated us pretty good. On days when we were running our butts off, they usually bought pizza or subs for us. We had 2 great company parties every year that even the spouses enjoyed (usually at a comedy club). For Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving, everyone got a turkey. Every employee, spouse and child got a Christmas gift.

I remember the first time they bought pizza for us, as I grabbed a few slices and a bottle of Mt. Dew, I stuck my head in the doorway of the office and thanked them for doing that. I thought most people did, since the office was on the way out to the ambulance bay... apparently I was wrong. I later learned that there were a handful of us who made it a point to thank them for all the extras... most didn't mention a thing, and some oafs (always the same oafs) made it a point to find something to complain to them about it.

I can't understand the childishness of some people's kids. ;~D

I thought most people did, since the office was on the way out to the ambulance bay... apparently I was wrong. I later learned that there were a handful of us who made it a point to thank them for all the extras

That was considerate! They didn't have to do it for you guys and yet they showed appreciation for you and your fellow workers.

most didn't mention a thing, and some oafs (always the same oafs) made it a point to find something to complain to them about it.

Of course there are always those people in every bunch Ted! They have to complain about something!