Good last minute excuse to not attend Christmas party?

[Myle]

Hi there
I work in Midtown Manhattan 2 days a week and it takes me an hour to commute from home.
I work in a small office with another 10 people and one of them is leaving end of year. So the boss man decided to organise a work Christmas party to double up as a leaving party. I like my colleague who is leaving but I have 0 in common with anyone outside of work and 3 of my much younger colleagues talk down to me as if I was some sort of idiot most times while sucking up to the boss , so the less I see them the better for me. On top of it, my boss wants to book tickets for a show which means that,as always, it's going to take me an hour + to travel back home at night. My other colleagues won't travel with me as they prefer to stay in town partying and getting drunk with the boss until the early hours, and the younger ones won't be seen dead travelling with me anyway...
So this year I really don't want to attend . Problem is, because it's a tiny office it was difficult to say no when my boss asked us to book the week ( the exact day that week isn't exactly sure yet) + I epuld have looked bad if I had said no when my colleague is leaving... But really I can't put myself through the hassle again, like I do every year. I've had enough. Would anyone have a believable excuse I could give on the day for not going? Everyone is planning to get changed and go straight from work so I would need to come up with something in the morning or night before , that stops me going...Especially as I don't even know the exact day it's going to be yet..
Thank you for any advice

I think you need to keep it as simple as possible. Is just say that you are really sorry but you have other commitments that week or that for various reasons you can't manage it.
I'd then mitigate this by making sure you give a good contribution to any leaving gift and write a card to the person who is leaving with a nice sentiment inside

Sorry but I don’t want to go.

This is exactly what I said for my works Christmas party this year!
I really like the people I work with but never look forward to the Christmas do. This year I've tried to cut down on arrangements I don't enjoy or look forward to, the works Christmas party is one of those. Life is too short.

I would say I'm just not up to doing that journey home at that time of night, so I'm very sorry, but I'm not going to go this year. You say it's difficult to say no, but you can do it! Big (regretful) smile, repeat that you're sorry but you won't be going, until they stop asking. If pushed, say that the big nights out aren't your thing. Then repeat that you won't be going. Good luck! You'll have to work out in advance how you will counter any arguments they have, (taxi? Leave early?) but smile and firmly stick to your guns.

Thank you all for your advice :)
If I just say I don't want to go/don't fancy the commute this time, the younger colleagues will have a smirk on their faces ( happy I will look bad ) and take 1 more opportunity to bitch about me saying it's out of order because of my colleague leaving..
Might create a bad "atmosphere" with my boss when we are in our small office....especially as he is good friends with my colleague who is leaving.
I think I might do what EducatingArti suggested..
That's a thought. Thank you🙂

Get friend/ husband to call around 3pm.

You start panicking/crying/swearing.

You have to leave early to go home for family/house/emergency.

You leave and make your apologies.

Just have a headache coming on that afternoon. Or food poisoning the day before. Then you can pretend you are really disappointed you can't make it and don't have to come up with an excuse that everyone will try and argue round. No one wants a party person with the shits!

Could you not just say you can't attend due to other commitments but then have lunch or coffee or something and it's the colleague that's leaving? That way you get to acknowledge them.

'With the colleague' damn autocorrect

Say you only agreed as you were put on the spot and didn't want people bad mouthing you but really you don't want to go and life's too short so you're not going.

Honestly is the best policy - you can just say that you’re sorry you can’t attend, you don’t need to tell anyone why. Write something nice in the card for the leaver and if you really like them there’s nothing to stop you taking them out for a lunch, just the two of you, before they go.

If there's a lot of pressure I would just say you could get out of it with "I'm not feeling well" on the day but, if someone's booking/ paying for the show, it'll be pricey so better to say no earlier. I'd go with you have a lot of commitments at this time of year. It makes it sound like you've got a socially superior diary so they can't sneer at you just being lame and like it's their fault for not organising it earlier.

Can you have a friend or relative flying in & you're going to the airport?

Get someone to ring you on your mobile when you're in the office that afternoon and you know there will be people around.
Be overheard saying "oh no! Hold on until I go somewhere more private" and then go out of the room to take the rest of the call.
Come back in and tell them you're really sorry but you wont be able to go out tonight as something has come up. Chances as they won't ask anything further

Will you not need to pay your share if you drop out at the last minute?

I think it's better to say you've now realised that week is just not possible for you

Could you be offered a last minute cancellation medical appointment? Not sure if that works in the US but would here in the UK as we often wait months to see NHS consultants.

The shits. Nobody wants the shits, and they will be too embarrassed to challenge it.

Just say it’s such a shame but it clashes with a best friend’s 21st or 30th birthday party, and you’re gutted you can’t attend the work thing but you can’t let your friend down.

You have family flying in for the week, and have committed to dinners/shows/ferrying them to various places after work. Every evening, Such a bind, would've loved to come, sure you'll have a wonderful time etc etc.

I would say just be vague and say you've already got plans that night. Either that or have stomach ache or something on the day, but that might be a bad idea:

1. If it's a work day you might need to take the day off work which will go on your sick record.
2. If you come into work then "don't feel well" you've got to be dam good at acting unwell.
3. If it's not a Friday night, then you might have to be poorly for a couple of days after - you'll look suspicious because you've recovered too quickly, and/or people will be displeased if you come in less than 24 hours after starting with a bad stomach, fever or some such.