Why do we come to work on Christmas Eve anyway? Can I have my free lunch so I can go home already?
I've asked this question before in a different way, but seriously, what is the protocol for getting gifts for your boss? Is it expected? Does it make you look like a brown-noser? I know I could probably Google to find out what Emily Post has to say about it, but I want to know what y'all think. My boss owns the company, and he spends more on dinner than I make in a week, and I'm expected to get him something? That doesn't compute.
I've worked for the Armenian Mafia for 9 years and for the first 7 I never got my boss anything and it was not a problem. Then a couple of years ago he jokingly started making a big deal about how I'd never gotten him anything for Christmas and how I'm basically a big dick and I know he was mostly kidding but he was also kind of serious, too. It was one of those situations where I had to read between the lines and take the hint; the hint wasn't even that subtle, really. He was flat-out saying GET ME A PRESENT, CHEAPSKATE. But what do you get a guy who literally could buy whatever he wanted? I understand "it's the thought that counts" but I don't want to get him something stupid that he'll never use or worse, re-gift. Honestly, I think the fact that I show up for work every day should be enough of a gift. In fact, what I should say the next time I get shit from him is, "uh, and where's my gift for being an awesome employee??"
Anyway, I took the easy route this year and got his son (his second kid!) a baby blanket1. He was born a couple of weeks ago while my boss was traveling on business, so he missed the birth. Predictably, he was like, "you've seen one, you've seen 'em all." His wife is a lucky lady.
Lindsey and I held our second annual white elephant Christmas party on Saturday, aka my birthday, and I was so happy that basically all the people I love were able to make it. The white elephant portion of the festivities were especially raucous this year, due in part to the sheer number of participants. We all packed into our living room and for about an hour it was like being on the floor of the stock exchange, or at a cockfight; there was so much hollering and it was seriously cutthroat! My favorite part has to be the nicknames people come up with to describe the presents. This year there was a "face box" (which was literal, since it was a box with a face drawn on it, "Wii", "weed", "dong bong", "AOL", "shit bag", "happy meal/telephone", "ecstasy", and "jug fugler magazine". Of course, none of the actual gifts were even close to being any of those things, but that's why it's so funny.
I loved the mix of awesome gifts (theremin, accordion, awesome DVDs) and jokey gifts ("bottle bong", "classic tattoos book", a lawn flamingo). I had a great time and I love that all of my favorite people could find the time to get together and laugh our asses off. I have the best friends in the world!
The rest of the photos here and here.
Merry Christmas everybody!
1 This necessitated a trip to our local Baby's R Us, and marked the first time in my life I'd ever stepped foot in that store. As much as I would love to have a baby just so I could buy it cool shit, the irony is that if you have a baby, you wouldn't be able to afford any of it.
I've worked for the Armenian Mafia for 9 years and for the first 7 I never got my boss anything and it was not a problem. Then a couple of years ago he jokingly started making a big deal about how I'd never gotten him anything for Christmas and how I'm basically a big dick and I know he was mostly kidding but he was also kind of serious, too. It was one of those situations where I had to read between the lines and take the hint; the hint wasn't even that subtle, really. He was flat-out saying GET ME A PRESENT, CHEAPSKATE. But what do you get a guy who literally could buy whatever he wanted? I understand "it's the thought that counts" but I don't want to get him something stupid that he'll never use or worse, re-gift. Honestly, I think the fact that I show up for work every day should be enough of a gift. In fact, what I should say the next time I get shit from him is, "uh, and where's my gift for being an awesome employee??"
Anyway, I took the easy route this year and got his son (his second kid!) a baby blanket1. He was born a couple of weeks ago while my boss was traveling on business, so he missed the birth. Predictably, he was like, "you've seen one, you've seen 'em all." His wife is a lucky lady.
Lindsey and I held our second annual white elephant Christmas party on Saturday, aka my birthday, and I was so happy that basically all the people I love were able to make it. The white elephant portion of the festivities were especially raucous this year, due in part to the sheer number of participants. We all packed into our living room and for about an hour it was like being on the floor of the stock exchange, or at a cockfight; there was so much hollering and it was seriously cutthroat! My favorite part has to be the nicknames people come up with to describe the presents. This year there was a "face box" (which was literal, since it was a box with a face drawn on it, "Wii", "weed", "dong bong", "AOL", "shit bag", "happy meal/telephone", "ecstasy", and "jug fugler magazine". Of course, none of the actual gifts were even close to being any of those things, but that's why it's so funny.
I loved the mix of awesome gifts (theremin, accordion, awesome DVDs) and jokey gifts ("bottle bong", "classic tattoos book", a lawn flamingo). I had a great time and I love that all of my favorite people could find the time to get together and laugh our asses off. I have the best friends in the world!
The rest of the photos here and here.
Merry Christmas everybody!
1 This necessitated a trip to our local Baby's R Us, and marked the first time in my life I'd ever stepped foot in that store. As much as I would love to have a baby just so I could buy it cool shit, the irony is that if you have a baby, you wouldn't be able to afford any of it.