This was a bit fucking weird/rude

[Iwasneveragoddess]

We work for a large organisation. We were moved to our office about 18 months ago we have been kind of slotted in with another huge team (adults) and we are children’s.

So the whole of the upper part of the building and 1/2 of the bottom is them and the rest is us and another small team.

We are friendly with the other teams but do totally different jobs.

Yesterday some of them asked us to buy raffle tickets for a children’s charity and we did.

Today I came back to the office from a meeting and the entire office was full of people in party hats, conference room full of party food, music, people with babies on maternity leave there and people who don’t usually work a Tuesday.

In the middle of this is our team, not invited to join and trying to take calls/work.

AIBU to think if they weren’t going to invite us they should at least have had their party upstairs (which is bigger and there is a huge kitchen)?

It was really weird, uncomfortable (being sat in the middle of a party you are not invited to) and fucking difficult to work!

@Mix56 you do understand it’d be like phoning LAS and having difficulty communicating as staff are distracted by party or as per your suggestion joining in

Caller: I’d like to raise an urgent concern please...
Staff: say that again, can’t hear you over careless whisper

I would have just said 'ooh party food lovely' while I took a plate full back to my desk. But you are right incredibly weird and rude and inconsiderate.

I'd have downed tools and joined in. I'm sure they wouldn't have begrudged you a papercup of warm Prosecco and a sausage roll.

So bizarre!

I would just of said something, like sorry this is an important call is it possible you can move upstairs please or at least away from my desk?

They most certainly would begrudge alcohol, drinking whilst working you’d be disciplined
Potentially Reported to professional body

Rightly so.

What’s cp?

Child protection , social work

That is really inappropriate. You should contact your manager and ask them to complain further up the hierarchy - copy in an HR rep as well. Not appropriate to be taking child protection calls while a party goes on around you, and managers should have stepped in.

There were so many of them and so few of us, they were picnicking on the floor next to our desks 😂😂

There was no alcohol (as far as I know).

I was responding to @katy1213 suggestion to take the warm Prosecco

Totally inappropriate, the caller needs to know that their call is being taken seriously, whether its from an organisation or a private caller.
CP issues don't stop just because it's Christmas, I am actually gobsmacked
The people who are saying just join in really are clueless

I did guffaw at Join in! and down tools! Have a warm Prosecco
Imagine your call to duty, LAS or hospital unanswered because staff are rockin around the xmas tree

Yeah answering the phone pissed would not be the greatest career move

From a safeguarding and data protection/confidentiality point of view for your CP work, that's shocking and really inappropriate that they did this. Someone from the child team should have told the adult lot to go upstairs and stay there since this was a work day for you.

YANBU at all OP. The crap teamwork thing is obviously appalling.

But working in CP makes it even worse.

I work in a children's counselling service and frequently have to make referral to Social Service. Doesn't matter how many I make they still affect me (as Counsellors we are taught to tune into our feelings, not tune them out so that we can relate to our clients).

I made a CP referral this afternoon. I would have been really thrown if I could have heard a party going on at the other end of the phone.

Totally inappropriate and I'm a professional. Imagine it being a neighbour who had debated phoning something in only to hear that at the end of the phone. Not on. At all.

Sounds pretty thoughtless. Did your manager not mention to them to take it upstairs as you were all trying to work?

In a child protection field, is it appropriate to be partying during working hours full stop?

If you work in a government social work department, I'd be fucking fuming.

Rude and weird... when we have shared an open plan office with other teams we have clubbed together to have a group bring and share lunch.

Saying childrens and adults can I assume this is council... if so I have always found the childrens and adults teams to be quite odd and self centred.... I worked in both for a while .. still dont know who is worse

That's pretty shocking of the organisers and frankly weird! However, there is nowt strange as folk. We recently had around 15 people join our office of 250 (we are different divisions). Recently we were given a treat - which was dished out in front of them.... but they weren't invited to have any. It felt awful and people were v uncomfortable, one guy said what about lets include them... and he was told no because our management hadn't budgetted for the extra 15 in the treat! (We're thinking similar to a slice of cake here, not like £300 headphones or anything). After a couple of us said ok, we'll pay to welcome the management backed down and they were included. It was beyond awkward for them and us as our desks are literally next to each other.

Completely inappropriate.
I how the people on the end of your phonecalls were feeling if they could hear all the whooping and party hollering. I wouldn't want to be making CP calls with that going on in the background.

Did anyone say anything about it today?

This sounds like my old place of work.... I'd take a guess for top floor of a medical centre. You're social workers and they're district nurses 😂

I would imagine people were expecting other people to sort out including you lot, or at least letting you know what was going on but no one actually took ownership of it. I do think cock-up is a more likely explanation for a lot of 'weird' or 'rude' behaviour than intention.