The office Christmas party was back and I may have been too honest

After last year’s virtual party, Trudy was back in the pub with her colleagues and Secret Santa presents but she might have said too much to her boss. By Christine Manby

(Illustration by Tom Ford)

When it comes to potential flashpoints in modern office life, the Christmas party is right up there with hot-desking and deciding whose turn it is to wash up the dirty mugs in the office kitchen.

Last Tuesday night was the Bella Vista PR Christmas party. Our 2020 party was a very sad affair, held over Zoom as we stared down the barrel of another lockdown. Our boss Bella sent a half bottle of champagne to each of our homes and we opened them in front of our screens, before playing a pub quiz, with questions inviting answers that would have resulted in a couple of instant dismissals had Bella’s internet connection not gone down at exactly the right time.

This year, we went “out out” to have a real-life party in an upstairs room at the pub nearest our office. When Bella first announced that the party would be held on the last day of November, we all thought she was a cheapskate, but following the Downing Street press conference on 27 November, when BoJo announced new rules to boost the Christmas bonuses of his mates in the PCR industry, Bella’s decision seemed quite prescient. Who knows how long we’ve got until we’re back to the “rule of six” and no mixing of households?