Christmas decorations at work?

[JesusFightClub]

Not sure if this is snark or chatter, but thinking of the fundie insistence that there is a War on Christmas going on, I wondered what, if any, Christmas decorations you have/are allowed at your place of work or study?

Here in evil godless Scotland my office has a small Nativity scene in front office (and someone keeps putting the sheep in compromising positions...) and tinsel, boatloads of tinsel. A big Christmas tree and lots of little ones. And there is no escaping the tinsel, someone tinselled my desk when I was out, it sits a bit uneasily with my General Strike Now poster ;)

A handful of Pagans here too and they have been speaking about yule and solstice. There are Merry Christmas signs up everywhere.

So what do you have/are you allowed? Would anyone get annoyed if you did or didn't participate?

[Guest Anonymous]

Here in evil godless Scotland my office has a small Nativity scene in front office (and someone keeps putting the sheep in compromising positions...) and tinsel, boatloads of tinsel.

That's hilarious. I work at home, so my place is decorated, but I did it. My last job decorated a lot but it was a retail/service environment so I think it's expected by customers. It was pretty secular Christmas stuff though, santa and garlands and fake snow - no nativity or anything. I never heard anyone say that they minded except for the standard "I'm sick of this holiday music" complaint which was pretty much everyone.

ETA: JFC I did get back to you on the New Testament = anarchism and pacifism topic. Didn't want you to think I was pulling a fundie evasive maneuver. :P

[FemaleScientist]

We just have garlands and Santa-related decorations at work (both my full and part-time jobs), including some fake lights. It's rather secular.

At my part-time work in retail, we do play Christmas music that says things like "Merry Christmas", but as associates, we're more inclined to say "Happy Holidays" over "Merry Christmas"

No one would care at work if I celebrated Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any other holiday. I like the holiday season, so I do participate. Though I doubt anyone would care either way.

[MamaJunebug]

When I worked, I wanted to get the heck in there, get the #$!@#$ work done and get the heck home.

I was always irritated by anything unnecessary that distracted from me getting my stuff accomplished so I could leave. It never occurred to me 'til this moment, but that's why I didn't like Christmas decor at the office. And I'm a Christian.

[CelticGoddess]

Not sure if this is snark or chatter, but thinking of the fundie insistence that there is a War on Christmas going on, I wondered what, if any, Christmas decorations you have/are allowed at your place of work or study?

Here in evil godless Scotland my office has a small Nativity scene in front office (and someone keeps putting the sheep in compromising positions...) and tinsel, boatloads of tinsel. A big Christmas tree and lots of little ones. And there is no escaping the tinsel, someone tinselled my desk when I was out, it sits a bit uneasily with my General Strike Now poster ;)

A handful of Pagans here too and they have been speaking about yule and solstice. There are Merry Christmas signs up everywhere.

So what do you have/are you allowed? Would anyone get annoyed if you did or didn't participate?

Considering I work at a Christian Long Term Nursing center, we don't have a problem with the decorations. One unit is loaded with lights, tinsel, singing reindeer and snowman, nativity, etc. My unit is wimpy. To quote myself "500 is beautiful, 400 looks nice and 600 is just, well, 600". I work on 600.

Not everyone I work with participates, and it's not a problem. We did have a gingerbread decorating contest (my unit won). We've had carolers, parties, etc. It's very festive and all my dementia patients are going nuts. I"ll be glad when Christmas is over.

[treemom]

I work at a children's hospital although in an administrative function not a medical one and so yes we are heaped in decorations. But they are all secular in nature and we also do special celebrations for the other holidays. During Diwali they had a big celebration and we had lots of Indian food in the cafeteria during that time.

[snarkbillie]

We have a few trees. They are all decorated in what I would consider a secular fashion. One is all red bulbs and red ribbon. Another is all blue bulbs and blue ribbon. The other one is pink feathers and pink bows. I hate the pink one. The feather fluff is always floating around in the air.

[Grace]

I decorated like crazy last year because we have an office decorating contest but never got around to it this year. We do have a tree decorated in our company colors in the front and two office groups did participate in the decorating contest. We also had an ugly sweater contest day and a cookie exchange and a dirty santa gift exchange. I know we called the office party a Holiday party but I think the decorations were called Christmas decorations. But maybe not. No Nativities or anything though. It's definitely a secular type of Christmas celebration.

[justlurking]

It's only been in recent years, but we're not allowed to put anything up. Last year a woman covered her door in wrapping paper to make it look like a present and someone made a big stink (the paper didn't have anything religious on it--not even a "Merry Christmas"). She was told to take it down because it was offensive to others.

[keen23]

Our only stab at Christmas decorations was to switch out the Jack-O-Lantern candy basket with a snowman one. The Jack-O-Lantern was up from September to Thanksgiving, and the Snowman will probably remain until March?

ETA- We're totally wearing ugly Christmas sweaters today though. Because it's festive.

[Jessica]

A few years ago we hung tinsel around a window and our desks (I worked in the main office), made those paper chains with alternating red and green construction paper and hung one from each corner of the room going into the center, and some paper snowflakes to hang in the window and from the ceiling. Everyone commented on how nice and festive it looked. One guy nagged at us because he was "Jewish" (except not really... it was part of his heritage but every other day of the year he wanted nothing to do with being Jewish) but he just always had something negative to say no matter what so we ignored him. I think one of the other girls offered to make a paper menorah so he'd feel included but then he was offended by THAT too. Anywho, everyone else liked it, most of them agnostic/atheist.

edit - had he actually been offended by it sincerely we would've taken it down but he would just walk into the office and if he heard someone saying anythign about the decorations he'd say "God I f-ing hate Christmas... What a load of shit" and walk back out.

[Wolfie]

It's very festive and all my dementia patients are going nuts. I"ll be glad when Christmas is over.

Reminds me of something I spotted in the police blotter.

11:07 p.m. — A woman from Little Valley Road reported violence and verbal abuse. On callback, she said the kids were getting excited about Christmas.

On the work front, I work in schools, so there are decorations, but pretty secular stuff.

[almostfundylyte]

I work at a Baptist university, so decorations are standard. Mostly secular, but no one comlains about nativities, either.

[freejoytoo]

We have tinsel and a Christmas tree at work and only one person is a practising Christian, but then England is more Christian and theory and secular in practice (which is a-okay with me).

[Buzzard]

I work for the state so of course we have religious decorations (because I'm in the south and we only have to follow certain laws down here). It drives me fucking bonkers! There are jesus pictures everywhere, a tree, and not a single menorah. I've complained every year and nothing changes... sigh...

[SunnyAndrsn]

Not sure if this is snark or chatter, but thinking of the fundie insistence that there is a War on Christmas going on, I wondered what, if any, Christmas decorations you have/are allowed at your place of work or study?

Here in evil godless Scotland my office has a small Nativity scene in front office (and someone keeps putting the sheep in compromising positions...) and tinsel, boatloads of tinsel. A big Christmas tree and lots of little ones. And there is no escaping the tinsel, someone tinselled my desk when I was out, it sits a bit uneasily with my General Strike Now poster ;)

A handful of Pagans here too and they have been speaking about yule and solstice. There are Merry Christmas signs up everywhere.

So what do you have/are you allowed? Would anyone get annoyed if you did or didn't participate?

We have pine garland, employees put up their holiday cards on the door to the break room, and there is a Christmas tree in the front lobby. That's it.

[Arielkay]

I work for the state so of course we have religious decorations (because I'm in the south and we only have to follow certain laws down here). It drives me fucking bonkers! There are jesus pictures everywhere, a tree, and not a single menorah. I've complained every year and nothing changes... sigh...

Tell me about it. I'm in the South too. I hate the Bible Belt.

[ladypuglover]

Not sure if this is snark or chatter, but thinking of the fundie insistence that there is a War on Christmas going on, I wondered what, if any, Christmas decorations you have/are allowed at your place of work or study?

Here in evil godless Scotland my office has a small Nativity scene in front office (and someone keeps putting the sheep in compromising positions...) and tinsel, boatloads of tinsel. A big Christmas tree and lots of little ones. And there is no escaping the tinsel, someone tinselled my desk when I was out, it sits a bit uneasily with my General Strike Now poster ;)

A handful of Pagans here too and they have been speaking about yule and solstice. There are Merry Christmas signs up everywhere.

So what do you have/are you allowed? Would anyone get annoyed if you did or didn't participate?

JFC, stop messing with the sheep. You would have more fun putting the wise men in compromising positions.

[Austin]

My company is owned by fundie-lites, but I am happy to report that we have lovely snowflakes suspended by fishing line hanging in our huge windows in the front. We've outlined each window with white lights and added some pine boughs and pine cones to the windowsill.

Very tasteful and appropriate, in my view.

[FuManchu]

At my company every department spends the day of the Christmas Party preparing an event, show, display, or other experience for the directors, who go round every floor and department taking part in them. They then pick a winner (or winners) at the party, and that team gets a night out on the company. It's hugely competitive but good fun! People plan it for weeks in advance. My department turned a meeting room into a cinema (with popcorn etc) and played them a 5-minute film that we wrote and starred in.

(Part of the fun is watching the directors get progressively drunker as people ply them with drinks - I hear that this year one department had them taking shots of absinthe and another had them bobbing for apples in a barrel filled with Prosecco.)

There was a small fuss about participation this year, as one department was doing a Mad Men spoof theme but the department head refused to wear a tie for it, even though everyone else was going to a lot of trouble to dress suitably smartly. His deputy gave him a telling-off for not showing the proper spirit, but I can't remember if he caved in in the end or just hid while it was going on!

[Kishiria]

We walked through downtown mall Horton Plaza today. They were playing a religious Christmas carol and there was an 8-foot menorah up with two of the electric lights lit.

My husband and I work in a law office owned by a Jewish lawyer. His cousin works there as does one other fellow whose religion I don't know. I put a 12-inch fake evergreen tree on the receptionist's desk with a small brass menorah and a wooden dreidel beside it. I hung LED snowflake lights around the desk and then put an LED fake palm tree from Wal-Mart against one wall. It's all gone over very, very well.

[Angri-la]

Ugh, our Christmas party is today. They have a "desk decorating contest", so our entire place is filled with ugly stuff. I was denied, by HR, to bring in my Leg Lamp from "A Christmas Story" for my office window, so, instead, I wrote Bah, Humbug! in red lipstick.

The owner did not bring the wife and mass of children in this time. darn, I was hoping to have a fundie report. They are uber fundies, frumpers, matching clothes, but they still celebrate Christmas.

[Jessica]

The owner did not bring the wife and mass of children in this time. darn, I was hoping to have a fundie report. They are uber fundies, frumpers, matching clothes, but they still celebrate Christmas.

And you're not going to bless them with the knowledge that doing so means they're actually worshiping Pagan gods and phallic symbols?!

[Angri-la]

And you're not going to bless them with the knowledge that doing so means they're actually worshiping Pagan gods and phallic symbols?!

I was hoping to witness to them, but they did not show up. Of course his wife is 8 months pregnant, with what seems like 12 stairstep children. Maybe I will give them a card with a tract in it about the evils of the phallic symbols.

Wait, shouldn't the Patriarchs love them some phallic symbols, or just Dougie?

[doggie]

my boss is a cheap bastard and never decorates. he did get me a pizza for a Christmas dinner.

Wait I am my own boss crap now who can I blame?