If I should die think only this of me

[susie_flo]

Someone on Ravelry posted a grumpy rant about being invited to a seemingly compulsory 'fun-day' at work on Friday.  This has generated pages of sympathetic replies, every one of them lamenting the notion of "enforced fun", without a single "why be so grumpy?" or "Give it a try, you might enjoy yourself".

This, my dear fiends, is a British forum.  I appear to have happened upon a little corner of the internet populated only by people who know not how to "whoop".  It fair warms the cockles of my heart. 

Comments

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Mine too. Whenever there is a suggestion of enforced "fun" at work I generally reply "I'd rather stick forks in my eyes". Little do they know that actually I'd far prefer sticking forks in THEIR eyes...

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Heh, you should see what happens when they try to make an entire IT department at my work have "fun". (The IT Crowd is not fiction)

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

:-)

Your present is finally in the post! It arrived at mine 2 days ago. Hope you like it.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, pressie pressie!

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I used to absolutely loathe the enforced fun days at my last employer as they were always absolutely dreadful and I was accused of not being a team player when I refused to dress up as a Mister Man, the one who is brown and wears a monocle. I mean honestly do I come across as the kind of person who has anything brown in their wardrobe apart from the wood it's made of? Apparently I should have gone out and bought something specially - er yeah right.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Making you wear brown is verging on criminal ;-)

I once saw a documentary where a group of middle-aged executives was made to go on a compulsory, uber-macho outward bounds weekend as a team building exercise. At one point, with no warning, they were all told to strip to their underwear and swim across a stretch of water (I shudder to imagine such a thing in my workplace) and one of the men was made to feel like a total failure cos he couldn't swim... like it was a valid part of his job description.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

In enforced teambuilding things I tend to try and subvert it as far as possible, pushing the limits of the isntructions as far as they can go without breaking them, whilst demonstrating complete disinterest. That's when I don't "remember" a massive deadline that means I have to be in the office...

[itsjustaname.livejournal.com]

How ironic that that's Mr Uppity!

So far I've never had to engage in enforced fun at work and since my current director feels the same way I do I'm pretty safe from it here - I plan to be in meetings/off sick/on holiday if it ever comes up at future places of work.

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

If I'd realised it was him I could have argued I was acting the part rather than just dressing up like it.

Long may you continue to be safe from it, impromptu drinks after work or training courses are fine but a three line whip that you must dress up and you must have fun is horrible.

[steer.livejournal.com]

Heh... actually we get pretty awesome fun days at work. Go Karting last time but I'm hoping for laser tag for the next one.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Yes but you're ludicrously cheerful and sociable and a disgrace to the academic profession :-)

(I wouldn't mind a bit of laser tag though...)

[lazy-hoor.livejournal.com]

That sort of thing would send a chill down my spine too. Though at the last place I worked we had a summer fun day (in October for some reason) which consisted of Laser Quest and an an amount of booze that would have floored Oliver Reed. Irish fun days might be

somewhat

different to UK/USA models*.

It also marked the very last occasion I brought Mr Hoor to a work do. Or at least a work do with a free bar.

The less said about that the better.

*Reading that back I realised I described a fun day where people shot each other and got drunk. I'm sure not all Irish works fun days conform to such stereotypes.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, go Irish fun days. (You had me at "Laser Quest and an an amount of booze that would have floored Oliver Reed")