There’s something uniquely uncomfortable about work Christmas parties, isn’t there? That awkward blend of forced socialisation, free alcohol, and the desperate hope that Dave from Accounts doesn’t do something spectacularly stupid this year. It’s that time again when we all have to decide whether to attend the annual corporate festivity or come up with increasingly creative excuses about why we can’t make it.

I’ve been scrolling through some discussions online about the worst work Christmas parties people have experienced, and honestly, it’s been both horrifying and oddly comforting to know that everyone’s workplace has its share of dysfunction. The stories range from the merely disappointing to the genuinely traumatic, and they paint a fascinating picture of how corporate culture has evolved—or hasn’t—over the past few decades.

You know what really gets under my skin? It’s not the trams running late (though that’s bloody annoying), or even the price of a decent coffee these days. It’s watching perfectly intelligent people throw basic grammar and punctuation out the window like they’re disposing of yesterday’s Herald Sun.

I stumbled across this discussion online about punctuation disasters, and honestly, it struck a nerve. There was this classic exchange where someone’s offering proofreading services, only to have a client with “30 years in media” smugly decline because they can handle their own copy, thank you very much. The punchline? Their response contained “Its my pleasure” – missing that crucial apostrophe that would make any English teacher weep.