Office Politics at the Christmas Lunch

It's getting to that point of the year when I need to make the decision [I am lucky] of which office lunch I will be attending.

You see I am on secondment from one team to another as I came back from Adoption Leave to find myself in a team which I just didnt really fit into and whilst I was only in the that team for a short while I have been invited to attend their Christmas Lunch - or rather I am still on their mailing list.

To be blunt I would actually prefer to attend the Christmas Lunch with the team I am in now - they are a lovely mixed bunch of individuals who I have just realised have something in common - we are all in someway Country Bumpkins, now whilst that phrase brings up all sorts of weird connotations to you maybe of people chewing on bits of straw! We seem to have more of a sense of community, endearment and a sense of ease about ourselves.  So the choice of which lunch is made, now to make the choice of who to sit next to.

This I don't think I will have a problem in doing as I can quite confidently say that there is no-one who I wouldn't want to sit next to [I think anyway].  I believe this is mainly due to the fact that we are a virtual team most of the time - as we inevitably have at least one day a week where we join team meetings via the phone or through our Microsoft Communicator otherwise we may pop in the office, but more often than not we are in meetings around the region on in London or working from home.

Maybe for others this is a time for great anxiety, people wanting to sit next to you, who you have been trying to get away from for the whole year - where you have to smile sweetly as they approach you , whilst you are trying to indicate to you best friend that you have saved them a seat.  I have even come across people who change seats in the office a few days before the event just so that they get with the "in" crowd before the event to guarentee a seat.

Other years I have become the office "Christmas Fairy" and organised Secret Santa and put a bit of sparkle and magic to the occassion, but this year what with the highy likelihood of redundancy, loss of child benifit, VAT going up, petrol/diesel on the continual rise, temperature staying bl**dy freezing, not many of us have that Christmas cheer - thank goodness for our little darlings.