I had been working in a dead end office job for about five years. Although I was promised the chance of promotion when I was first interviewed, my position had gone just about nowhere.
As was the case every year, it was left entirely up to me to look after the Christmas party. None of the bosses or even my equivalents offered a helping hand. I was given a budget of $6000 to organise the drinks, decorations, food and entertainment.
Unlike most of my friends who were office workers, I never received so much as a pat on the back for Christmas, let alone a bonus. This bitterness was swirling around in my mind as I began to plan for the Christmas party. It was then I realised that I could get my Christmas bonus another way. The company rarely asked for receipts and I was given an account to draw cash out of … and so I hatched my plan.
I had a good friend Brendan who had DJ equipment and was not a professional but saw it as a hobby. He enjoyed entertaining friends at a few small parties and I knew he would love to do our Christmas party for nothing more than a $100 voucher.
Over the next two weeks I scoured newspapers for specials on cheap beer. I had a friend who worked at a winery and could get bottles of clearskin red and white wine at $2 a bottle.
I knew one thing I couldn’t fake was nice decorations, so I bought them at a party store.
The venue was an outdoor area at work so that would cost me nothing. I’d enlisted three of my friends to waitress for $200 each for the night under strict instructions they were to pretend they didn’t know me.
Finally, I went to the local supermarket and bought all the food. Rather than buying gourmet snacks, I bought everything home brand, which was half the price but no one would notice the difference.
The night of the big party arrived. I decorated the area beautifully. I had all the food and wine in a curtained-off area and instructed my girlfriends/waitresses to top up wine behind the curtain and bring it out on trays, as this way no one would see the clearskin labels. Brendan had set up his DJ equipment and already people were swaying in appreciation of his music.
The whole night had cost me $3000 and therefore $3000 was in my pocket. I felt it was my Christmas bonus, the money I should have received in pay rises over the years.
All was going well until my manager decided to make an announcement. Great, ‘another presentation for an already rich executive’, I thought as he began to speak about what a wonderful employee someone was and how impressed they were with this person’s fantastic integrity and always putting the company first. I was shocked when my name was called to come up to the front to receive a special present. As if in a dream I walked up to my boss, who handed me a black box with a ribbon tied around it. “Open it,” jeered drunken workmates. Inside was an exquisite gold chain which would have cost a fortune.
My boss continued his speech, saying he knew it didn’t always seem like the company appreciated me but that I was a valued member of staff. The company and many of the employees had chipped in for the present as a thank you for the party and all the work I’d done. By this point I was flushed red and almost in tears; people thought I was overwhelmed by the gift.
“Thank you so much” was all I could say, in almost a whisper, as everyone cheered and clapped loudly.
I only lasted another six months at the company. My boss was upset that I was leaving — I told him I’d received a much better job offer and couldn’t refuse it. This wasn’t the case. I was in fact living in shame and couldn’t bear the guilt I carried every day when looking at all my workmates, whom I robbed of a real Christmas party. I had taken money out of their pockets to give a gift to the office girl with “integrity”.
Image: Getty / Picture posed by model
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