So where are all you cnuts?

Stonge secured a place in history by writing:

*Stonge shagged santa*

The shame of it. Think of the children.

 

Steve Parry secured a place in history by writing:

It is, but it doesn't preclude pointing and laughing...

 

So you're Kevin Stone, referred to as the first place Brain Basher?

--

 

I have occasionally been known to go by a real name, and that is my chosen
name.

BrainBashers is the name of the league I'm in (as is the name of my
website).

 

sorry, I've only just got in from a nice meal at the Royal China in
St.Johns Wood.

 

Office Giant Xmas Party. Diabolical. Left after 40 minutes.

 

*That* bad? Jesus.

JB

 

TOG's a bit old for partying.

 

Well, the company decided to have a Giant All-Subsidiaries Bash in the
Horticultural Halls in London. 2000-odd staff. Fair enough, they spent
a lot of dosh, free booze in large quantities, nice decorations and so
forth.

But - a really crap band playing v.v.loud in a hall that is not noted
for its acoustics. A bar maybe 20 feet long. Lots of little "food
stations" with not enough staff and no thought given to how you
actually feed 2000 people reasonably quickly, and get them out of the
way from the serving points so others can get their trotters in the
trough.

Basically, not enough staff. You couldn't even get *into* the hall
because the queue to deposit hats & coats went out of the cloakroom, up
the stairs from the basement, across the foyer, and through the bloody
turnstiles in. That took 30-40 minutes. Queues for food took as long
(unless you were crafty and went for the - rather good! - Middle
Eastern coucous which everyone else spurned).

Nowhere near enough seating. Nowhere to sit down with yer mates, have a
few beers, and discuss management foibles (which is what we all like
doing at Xmas parties, isn't it?) before rejoining the fray. Well,
seating for maybe a couple of hundred, most of which was on the edge of
the dance floor, in front of the speakers blasted by the crap band.

I'd have told the jugglers and mime artists (I mean, really....) to
**** off and come back dressed as waiting staff, and ensure that we
could get some bloody food and drink.

It's *always* the same at Christmas bashes, whether it's a giant one
like this or a dinner for a couple of dozen of you. The fucking
restaurants, organisers, pubs, whatever *always* skimp on the staff to
save cash and the result is pissed-off people like me.

I mean, you know how many people are coming, you know what you're
supposed to be serving in liquor and grub, so how hard can it be to
sort it out?

For years I've studiously avoided the office Christmas bashes because
they'rve always been dreadful. This year I thought I'd give it a try.
Never again. I'm going to suggest to a few like-minded souls that we
all chuck some cash into a kitty over the year, and take ourselves off
for a weekend in a decent hotel in France, where we can have some good
food, decent booze, and decent service. Like I did with Platypus and a
few others the other weekend. Great, that was.

 

In

.... and in a few words you pretty much sum up the malaise of British
industry, particularly catering!


--
Steve Parry

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

http://www.arrivedeprived.org.uk/

K100RS SE
F650
(not forgetting the SK90PY)

 

I think that at Christmas the lack of staff is a side effect of trying to
cram in as many people as possible. This pretty much gurantees a lousy
meal even if they *do* lay on extra staff.

 

Steve Parry scribbled on the back of a napkin:

I think there may be a "decent" missing in that sentence somewhere, but
generally I think you're right.