Merry Christmas!
Here’s a little bit of Philippines Christmas culture.
My OFS Julia mentioned (and wrote about it) a while back that she finds Christmas stressful. It gives her anxiety.
I recently asked her how she’s doing. She shared:
One of the things I don’t miss at all about working in an office is the Christmas office talent show.
All the offices I have worked in and all the offices I know of, whether they’re government offices, private companies, big BPOs, or small shops, all seem to have a talent show during the Christmas party.
I know I’ve mentioned before that the Christmas rush gives me a bit of anxiety. The office talent show was a contributing factor.
I don’t like performing in front of a crowd. A talent show also takes a lot of time to organize and prepare. I didn’t like rehearsing a production number outside of office hours. I didn’t like spending more money on a costume I’ll probably only wear once.
I didn’t like it, but I still participated because I liked my officemates and was a team player.
I thought I was free from all that when I started working from home. But I forgot that I had friends who still worked in offices and owned businesses. When they invite me to their office Christmas parties year after year, the talent show is still there.
And this year, I was asked to judge their company talent show!
It’s a fixture because it’s something many Filipinos look forward to. That’s why it’s the highlight of most Christmas parties. It’s like watching a variety show where you know all the performers. Back then, even I had to admit that the bonding experience and knowing that I had learned enough choreography to fake knowing how to dance was fun.
It also doesn’t hurt that companies tend to give prizes during these competitions. It could be cash prizes or small appliances like oven toasters and rice cookers. If you’re lucky enough to work for a multinational company and they had a good year, they could give out bigger prizes like TVs, gaming consoles, or washing machines.
OFS more outgoing and talented than me might miss this part of the traditional work environment. But there’s always a Christmas party somewhere. It’s still nothing compared to having a great job that lets you work from home. That job offers us so much more time to celebrate Christmas with our family and friends.
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I’m with Julia. This would stress me out. I do not like performing or dressing up.
On another note…if you’re off work this week, I always find it’s a great time to prepare a job post to be posted in early January. The most productive work you can do is often in hiring someone to take tasks off your plate. I find when there are no other distractions is the best time to get this job post written and ready to be posted.
John