Should I attend my department Christmas Lunch?
My department Christmas Lunch will this year be at Bon Viveur, a relatively new restaurant in Bristol.
For reasons of ‘equality for lunch non-attendees’ (more like ‘budgetary pressure’, I reckon), The Company will not be subsidising employees’ departmental Christmas lunches this year (last year we received £10 towards the cost). This makes the minimum £21.50 (two courses) or £26.50 (three courses) a little steep, especially considering the ongoing debt situation (when they say that debt ‘cripples’, they’re right) and the fact that, if I’m going to spend £20+ on a meal, I normally do it with people I really like to hang around with. Maybe it’s because I don’t really socialise with my cow-orkers, but I’ve found past Christmas lunches to be a real strain, and not that much fun.
What should I do?