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Original poster

our christmas meal cancelled!!!!

226 replies

november90 · 02/12/2021 11:33

i'm SO annoyed. i have don't absolutely everything and complied with everything this whole time but i am getting SO fed up with having my own happiness and needs taken away.
christmas smell CANCELLED and employer asked we don't meet outside work until 2022.
christmas new cancelled last year. i'm a single mum and barry get any interaction from anyone. i was SO looking forward to this :(
i know there's no point to this but how bloody long can this go on for?!?!?!!!!

OP posts:
FourteenSixteenTwentyTwo · 02/12/2021 12:10

Ours was supposed to be this week and also got cancelled. Putting it off until new year apparently (also no idea where my deposit has gone). So fed up too.

TooManyPlatesInMotion · 02/12/2021 12:10

Sorry op, that's truly rubbish.

Your employer cannot stop you meeting colleagues out of work though! Some of you could still go out?

MrsLarry · 02/12/2021 12:11

Don't you have any friends you can go out with instead? Personally I'd rather spend time with real friends than people I spend all day with during the week.

Peregrina · 02/12/2021 12:11

But Boris Johnson and chums will have theirs.

awmum2b · 02/12/2021 12:12

I am the Christmas meal booker/organiser ( a mere minion that gets tasked with this joyful job) and it's been an absolute nightmare. Have done 3 rounds of messages, numerous drop outs and replacements...finally a full list, everything paid for and meals ordered and my boss asked me to go back out to them yesterday and ask again if everyone wanted to come with the view to cancelling and organising smaller events in the new year (i defo won't be doing any more organising, which likely means this will not happen). It's been an organisational nightmare and every email about it fills me with dread!

Currently most people still want to attend (it isn't a big event) and we are all doing LFT's the morning of the event....but we'll see how things develop in the coming days.

ravenmum · 02/12/2021 12:13

Commiserations! My bf is having his second birthday during a lockdown on Saturday. We're in a part of Germany where he's not even allowed to drink Glühwein outdoors in the rain to celebrate his birthday. The Christmas market was cancelled and no outdoor alcohol consumption is allowed. Everything else closed. I've got him a video to watch, yeay.
But maybe you could do something outdoors with your workmates, in the UK?

Tal45 · 02/12/2021 12:14

I'm sorry they've cancelled OP. Your employer can't tell you who you can and can't meet up with outside of work though! That is none of their business! Organise something amongst yourselves if you can. I think it's awful that things are still getting cancelled, we're vaccinated we need to be able to do things now.

minmooch · 02/12/2021 12:14

Businesses can't cope with people being off any more. Our business is on its knees - construction industry and busiest time of year trying to get everyone moved in to their new homes by their legal completion. Our clients don't want to/can't miss their legal completions if we don't turn up. If we are off due to Covid caught at social gathering we won't get return business.

I'm sorry it's hard but we all need to keep our jobs.

Dollywilde · 02/12/2021 12:14

obviously people can choose not to attend if they prefer.

As one of the organisers of ours (not the decision maker I hasten to add!), the issue is that once we provide the menu orders for ours we are committed to paying £50 a head, and if anyone else drops out after today we're stuck (work are paying for the whole thing). It's one thing having our company spend ££££s on a do that we're all going to enjoy, but if a third of the table is missing and a load of cash is going to waste it's going to be a total waste. Hence why we're postponing it now before more people drop out at the 11th hour. It's such a hard position to be in though.

(FWIW I suggested having our Christmas do this week so it was at a good distance from the day itself and people wouldn't worry about being out so close to the 25th - I am quietly waiting for an opportunity to say 'I told you so' to senior management...)

Pyewackect · 02/12/2021 12:16

I work in an ICU Covid Red Zone and we're going ahead with ours - in fact we are intent in getting completly off our tits. We will raise a glass to the two dear friends and colleagues we lost to Covid ( both in their 30's with small children ) .

Snailhaterz2 · 02/12/2021 12:16

I'm freelance, and the one Christmas event I'd been invited to which would have been very useful in terms of future work, as well as just good fun, has now been cancelled. Somewhat fed up also. At least it means that I'm not panicking about what I was going to look like, as the haircut I'd booked for the day beforehand has also been cancelled (hairdresser self-isolating).

MsAgnesDiPesto · 02/12/2021 12:16

Workplaces will be concerned be had the rules on isolation after contact with a suspected case of Omicron have changed - even if you are double vaccinated you’ll now have to isolate for 10 days if you’ve been in contact with someone confirmed as or suspected of having it. (Test and Trace will tell you).

So in you could all be out of the workplace at once, which most businesses won’t be able to sustain.

Joystir59 · 02/12/2021 12:16

I wonder if the various typos indicate that @november90 has been consoling herself with the christmas sherry? Grin

DartmoorChef · 02/12/2021 12:17

I feel your pain. After a crap year and looking forward to a busy December I'm now getting job after job cancelled and am worrying about how I'm going to pay my bills this month. Its shit.

This virus isn't going away and the vast majority of the country are vaccinated so I really do not understand why there is mass hysteria and panic yet again.

Etinoxaurus · 02/12/2021 12:17

@Dollywilde

obviously people can choose not to attend if they prefer.

As one of the organisers of ours (not the decision maker I hasten to add!), the issue is that once we provide the menu orders for ours we are committed to paying £50 a head, and if anyone else drops out after today we're stuck (work are paying for the whole thing). It's one thing having our company spend ££££s on a do that we're all going to enjoy, but if a third of the table is missing and a load of cash is going to waste it's going to be a total waste. Hence why we're postponing it now before more people drop out at the 11th hour. It's such a hard position to be in though.

(FWIW I suggested having our Christmas do this week so it was at a good distance from the day itself and people wouldn't worry about being out so close to the 25th - I am quietly waiting for an opportunity to say 'I told you so' to senior management...)

Eugh I’m currently collating menu choices for 60 on the 10th. I’m wasting my time aren’t I? If the venue doesn’t cancel we lose £££. I suspect we’ll have lots of no shows if we ar the venue don’t call it first. 🥺🤯
PrivateHall · 02/12/2021 12:18

@Pyewackect

I work in an ICU Covid Red Zone and we're going ahead with ours - in fact we are intent in getting completly off our tits. We will raise a glass to the two dear friends and colleagues we lost to Covid ( both in their 30's with small children ) .
I hope you all have an amazing time Flowers
akissbeforebed · 02/12/2021 12:18

Ours is still going ahead. We were given the option to pull out if we wanted to and those of us that didn't (I didn't) have to bring a LFT with us that is done on the day and to wear masks when moving around communal areas.

Joystir59 · 02/12/2021 12:18

@ravenmum
Commiserations! My bf is having his second birthday
Awful young bf Grin

vera99 · 02/12/2021 12:18

Sister-in-laws for 15 just hit the bin. Very sad - hospitality must be on it's knees if it has another ruined Christmas.

Bunnyfuller · 02/12/2021 12:19

@Hoppinggreen read my mind 😂😂😂😂😂

I work in the police and several forces have banned Xmas dos. Yes, it might all be nothing, but if we do nothing and it is something, we’ll be buggered, won’t we!

Foolsrule · 02/12/2021 12:20

Feel your frustration, OP! It’s never ending!

Summersdreaming · 02/12/2021 12:20

Ours is going ahead, we all work in the same office 40 hours a week what difference does it make to then sit in a restaurant together?

CafeCremeMerci · 02/12/2021 12:22

[quote WheelieBinPrincess]@JanglyBeads your work cannot stop social meet ups that you decide to arrange cog your own volition. Nor should they try to.

There are barely any cases of Omicron in the U.K., I suspect it’s being used to put the willies up us a bit so we behave ourselves and have another conservative Christmas to make things easier for the NHS.

A small group meeting for a Christmas jolly isn’t going to change anything.[/quote]
Look at what you wrote'

so we behave ourselves...to make things easier for the NHS

Easier isn't the word I'd use, maybe 'doable' 'possible for them to save the lives of patients with and without covid'

I think Govt should do more, but it doesn't stop individuals or businesses using their common sense & decency to do more.

One small meeting won't make much difference, but but thousand up & down the country will!!

Govt not bringing in more restriction is 'balancing the books' health & economy - WE can choose to protect ours & others health!

@november90
I'm really sorry you're so disappointed, but I think they're doing the right thing. I live alone & my family is overseas, so I'm not saying that from a smug place at all! I usually spend Christmas with my good friends, didn't last year & wont this year. So I do understand.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 02/12/2021 12:22

I’m going with my ex work colleagues tomorrow. We booked ours outside! Cold but worth it.

ChimChimeny · 02/12/2021 12:23

We're still going ahead (pub lunch for about 12) but requesting LFTs beforehand. It's in 2 weeks though so could all change!

We're only allowed to go ahead because it was already hooked, no new bookings allowed.

One team moved theirs forward to next week to give them time to isolate pre Christmas Day if necessary, wish we'd done that too!