Who's Doing the Office Holiday Party This Year?

"Who's Doing the Office Holiday Party This Year? by Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach If it's you, you're going to have your hands full. It's gotten so much more complicated these days with diversity and PC, and actually, at the goodwill-of-the-season level, a matter of respecting the sensitivities of others; we're all too busy and stressed, and it's become a chore. New? Not really. I came upon an interesting quote from an article published in the NY Times in 1937, which went like this: "We hear the beating of wings over Bethlehem and a light that is not of the sun or of the stars shines in the midnight sky. Let the beauty of the story take away all narrowness, all thought of formal creeds. Let it be remembered as a story that has happened again and again, to men of many different races, that has been expressed through many religions, that has been called by many different names. Time and space and language lay no limitations upon human brotherhood." And earlier than that, in 1934, Julia Peterkin wrote: "I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls..." So nothing's new, really. We want to celebrate, not offend, and somehow find the time and the money to do it. And this year Hanukkah starts December 26th, as does Kwanzaa. Busy time! Some offices are calling it a a"Kris Kringle Party," which at least in the US is one-off enough to be palatable to most. There are other themes you can adopt, centering on giving, goodwill, and winter. Only the most obstinate among us realize that we can't do everything at one time. We can leave the angel off the tree, and the cr