Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell me the most surprising thing they've ever seen at a company holiday party.
I can't believe that some of these actually happened in the workplace. Here are all the things that people shared:
1. "One of my coworkers brought a date…that date left with a different coworker at the end of the night. Needless to say, it was super awkward in the office the next week. 😅"
2. "I was mostly surprised at how many people feel comfortable getting drunk at the holiday Christmas party when booze is offered. I mean like, loud and belligerent, bragging about their drug habit in front of the boss type, drunk. I don't drink anyway, but even if I did, the holiday party would be the last place I'd drink to excess. But SO many people just get sloshed."
3. "'Santa' doing bong hits right before going out to party. Not very surprising, but our boss was not very happy when pictures went around the office a few days later."
4. "One of my bosses, a Catholic priest, did, like, five tequila shots at, like, 11 a.m...."
5. "I saw two of my coworkers cheat on their respective partners. She was married, while he had a girlfriend. It was a large company with a huge party, so I guess she thought not many people would notice them in the crowd. Drinks were unlimited all night, so most people got really drunk, and way past midnight, these two were on the dance floor, dancing and making out as if it were their foreplay. His hand went underneath and up her shirt, y'all."
6. "This didn't happen to me, but one of my friends worked part-time at a popular kids' stationary shop. They had their annual Christmas holiday party where one of the managers got SUPER drunk. She started to buy random guys drinks with her boyfriend's credit card and made out with other drunk strangers until the general manager told everyone to go home because she was so drunk. The next day, the opener arrived at the store, and the doors were open with thousands of pounds worth of stock stolen. It turns out that the super drunk manager had picked up a random stranger, and because she lived with her boyfriend, she decided to take him back to the store after hours to have sex in the office. She left the doors unlocked, and as the front of the store was all glass, everyone on the street saw her leave the door unlocked and had stolen stock before she could notice. She got fired the next day, and there was a police investigation for a while."
7. "One year, when my kids were still little — my oldest was about 6 — we went to my husband's Christmas office party. It was very dressy and at a high-profile company. So here we are, all dressed up, eating, laughing, meeting his coworkers and their families. When I looked over, my daughter said, 'Mom…🤢' and I had to turn her quickly around to a wastebasket, where she promptly threw up. We left quickly, and the following year, suspiciously, he told me it was for the employees only. I still wonder if he lied, but I wouldn't blame him!!"
8. "A female coworker who was pretty new to the company got very drunk and started harassing a male coworker. It escalated to her grabbing his crotch, and when he told her to stop, she slapped him across the face. She later claimed to have no memory of this incident. The group of all-male directors gave her a few days of suspension and quietly swept the incident under the rug. She kept her job and was given a recognition award a year later."
9. "My coworker saw people taking drug bombs right in the lobby of the high-profile building that was hosting our Christmas party. All I saw was the CEO making out with a stranger who definitely wasn't his wife."
10. "During the lockdown in COVID times, my office holiday party was held over Zoom, and we were encouraged to bring alcohol. One of my coworkers had clearly started the party early. After a few games and a gift exchange, she went on a long rant about dildos, among many other inappropriate things. I was the Zoom host, so I quickly ended the meeting to spare any more embarrassment. She texted me a video of herself dancing in a Santa hat and said she was going to send it to our CEO. She does not work here anymore."
11. "At one company I worked at, you could count on at least one person every year having too much to drink and making a spectacle of themselves in front of their colleagues. The most outrageous event happened one year when the general manager’s secretary got totally hammered and made a series of inappropriate remarks to various people. The one that got her fired was when she was talking to the wife of one of the VPs about how lonely she was after her divorce, and if this VP’s wife knew any eligible men, she would like to meet them and said to 'tell them I swallow.' Well, the VP’s wife repeated this to her husband, who told the general manager, who fired this woman the next day. People have to keep in mind that at a company party, you need to act like you are at work and behave accordingly. This woman wasn’t the only one I knew of who lost her job because of having too much to drink at a company function."
What's something surprising you witnessed at a company holiday party? Write it in the comments below.
Note: Some of these entries have been edited for length and/or clarity.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.