Has anyone else ever had to pay for a company holiday dinner?

When Cleo, un-named retailers manager, suggested a Christmas dinner out for the management team I knew that nothing good would come of it.  Working with this woman is the most difficult professional relationship I have ever had.  She is bossy, rude, and a slob (maybe I'm being too generous - LOL). Weeks before the event she talked about what a generous manager she was to take us out for a holiday dinner, which negates the generosity if you have to constantly mention how "generous" you are.

A few days before the dinner she began to talk about how the company had not given her a budget for the dinner.  I think she was waiting for us to offer to pitch in.  When that didn't happen she wondered aloud if we thought it would be more fair for everyone to pitch in instead of her footing the bill.  Let me clarify, when the store "makes sales plan", the manager and the two assistant managers alone share that bonus.  So, I could see if Cleo and the two assistant managers decided to share in the cost, but asking the other sales leads to pay was ridiculous.

We decided on Carmine's which is a wonderful Italian restaurant that serves "family style", huge

portions meant to be shared at the table.  Cleo ordered three appetizers and four entrees for a group of five.  That is an excessive amount of food for five people.  She arrived at the restaurant early and had two drinks before the rest of us arrived (that's going to be $15 per cocktail). We each ordered a glass of wine at the table.  Cleo and one of the assistant manager's ordered an additional glass of wine.  As we began dinner she said, "I really wanted to pay for this dinner, but Diane and Melinda both talked me out of it."  Blatant lie! and so classic.  Just because she complained about having to cover the cost in front of me, does not mean that I engaged in the conversation and told her not to pay. Diane is so desperate to be "in" with Cleo that I wouldn't doubt that she agreed that it was a fair idea.

During the course of the dinner Cleo and Diane would make short comments to each other and break
out laughing, which were obviously private jokes about the other members of the team, including myself.  I was seething. 

Cleo did pull out little gift boxes and handed one to each of us.  She had bought Alex and Annie bracelets for each of us and I do believe that this cost came out of her own pocket.  Susan is a sales lead who is in her early 60's.  She commented on how nice the new bracelet went with her Pandora bracelet.  Cleo burst out in hysterical laughter, she has a booming voice in the first place but after four drinks her voice carried across the crowded restaurant.  "Susan, only old ladies wear Pandora bracelets.  You really have to get rid of those."  Susan turned bright red and mumbled something about not caring because her sons had given them to her as a gift and she liked them for sentimental reasons.  Now Cleo is on a roll telling Susan how she dresses like an old lady and needs new shoes as well.  Next she starts on me reflecting that when I started I had the worst style and how far I'd come under her "style expert" guidance.  What makes no sense about these personal style attacks are that she has the worst style of any of the team members.  She is quite heavy (hey, I'm forever on a diet, but I mean she is seriously overweight) and dresses a size or two too small and wears tank tops over a bra that is three sizes too small. If she is not "selling" she doesn't seem to realize that she is still representing the store and walks around the boutique like an over aged college student in sweatpants, a tank top, flip flops, and her hair pulled up into a sprout on the top of her head.

The check arrived.  Cleo took a look at it and said, "The easiest thing to do it to just split it five ways."  No comment on her additional drinks.  After tip it was $60 per person. Then to put the icing on the top of the cake she said, "Is everyone taking the subway or bus home?"  We all agreed, then she added, "Ok, I'll take the leftovers since I have my car to drive back to New Jersey.  Is that ok?"  Susan was my hero!  She chimed in, "Oh, no, Cleo, my son and husband would love to have some of this."  They split it in two.  I had no interest in taking any of it, but was glad that Susan had kept Cleo from feeding her roommates on our dime.

During the San Francisco earthquake in 1989 I was in my office where I was working as a secretary.  As the building shook and swayed I squeezed into the copy room with the rest of my group and thought, "I'm going to die with these people and I don't even like them."  I had that same feeling at the Christmas dinner with my "un-named retailer" coworkers.  Something has to give.