When I was working with horses, some of the Christmas parties got a bit rowdy. I was head girl and have no head for alcohol, so didn't drink as I needed to be up at 4.30am the next day. Sorry, I'm a bit dull. A couple of us had to forcibly restrain one lad from letting all the horses out into the fields as "they won't be able to follow the star from their stables" - it was only 2pm by then and he was hammered. We put him to bed.
The boss was brilliant. We had a Christmas party. Anyone of any other faith is welcome to join in, even atheists, but it's a CHRISTMAS party and if you don't like the whole Christmas thing, you can just not come. He still goes grumpy at 'The Holidays' as we are not in America.
There used to be a lot of the most unlikely people getting off with other unlikely people, all the usual stuff. Someone would always get taken outside and thrown on the muck heap, one lass got a bit sozzled and went off and came back with her horse. One lad let fireworks off indoors (not a lot in the way of brains, that lad). Fire quickly sorted out and no need for the Fire Brigade.
Our Christmas do was generally done and dusted by about 10pm - they started at noon - due to the early rising nature of the job. It doesn't matter how hung over you are, horses still need feeding on time.
I never went to the parties when I worked in offices, except one for nPower where we all left early as there was no heating, the food didn't arrive until 10pm - or so most of us were told the following morning, as we'd all got really cold in the marquee at the football ground stadium and buggered off home, via the chip shop. It was such a debacle that the organising company apologised to all of nPower with a tin of Quality Street between us. Whoop de doop. Big company nPower.
