When coworkers gather together for some spirits and holiday cheer, they sometimes forget that they’re at a work party. The alcohol doesn’t help, and some pretty awkward things can happen when everyone lets it all hang out. These 3 unforgettable stories are as entertaining as they are cringeworthy.
Taking the Edge Off
A mild-mannered maintenance worker at a foster home was happy to be invited to the Christmas party by a coworker, but he had a dilemma. The man suffered from debilitating social anxiety. Would he attempt to face the small crowd at the party and try to overcome his fears? Or would he just stay home, and avoid a potentially terrible experience, altogether?
Excited at the thought of actually having a good time in public, he decided to brave the party. Because he was so nervous about being around that many people, the man had eight shots of vodka before he even arrived at the party. He was doing just fine for a few minutes, but it wasn’t long before he found himself tumbling down an entire flight of stairs, careening through a screen door, and out onto the lawn.
In addition to the pain in his body, the man was flush with embarrassment. This had happened in front of everyone at the party, and as they looked on in disbelief at this display, the man tried to stand up straight as he apologized profusely. His pride shattered, he ran to hide in the bushes for two hours, until his ride finally came to pick him up. —Business Insider
Respect Your Uber Driver
Izzy, a 28-year-old intern at a marketing company, woke up the morning after a holiday party at a bar the night before, of which she had next to zero memory. She did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that she did something stupid, so she began to ask people around the office what had happened.
One colleague got upset with her for “ruining his Uber rating”, and the pieces started to come together. He explained that as soon as she got into the Uber car with the rest of her coworkers, she started yelling at the driver and accusing him of being a criminal. Izzy proceeded to rail the driver for the whole trip home, making it a nightmare for everyone in the vehicle.
In the end, she felt terribly ashamed of herself, but fortunately, the incident did not have any professional consequences because she was given a full-time position at the company, a few weeks later. —The Debrief
You Can’t Be Young Again, but You can Act Like a Child
Coworkers came together at a holiday party a few years ago, and the liquor was definitely flowing. One of the partiers brought a plentiful amount of specially-blended eggnog, which contained whiskey, Scotch, and bourbon. Everyone in attendance happily drank more than their fill because it was apparently delicious and didn’t even taste like alcohol.
Not surprisingly, they all got hammered. By the end of the night, they had collaborated to build some kind of a slip-and-slide, in the ample space of the company’s warehouse. It was all fun and games until the IT guy hit the slip-and-slide hard and fast, breaking his collarbone. They called in the paramedics, and the victim was none the worse for wear. They all fondly remember the night; it was the Christmas when they lived out a childhood dream. —NPR
Stephanie
Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.
Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 100k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.