I worry about people, I really do. I am constantly amazed at how culturally tone-deaf people can be, especially when it negatively impacts on their lives in a big way. My reason for bringing up this worry today is that we had our work holiday party last night, and there was some seriously inappropriate behavior.

I work at a law firm. A very high-end law firm. This is not the sort of environment known for wild hoochee behavior and general outrageousness. Sadly, a number of secretaries in our office remain utterly oblivious to this fact. They started at the bar during the cocktail hour by doing a line of shots each. SHOTS, at a law firm holiday party. This got them pretty wild to start with. One of them was wearing a gynecological skirt, you know, the sort where every time you move the world is your gynecologist? Every time she moved around on her bar stool she flashed half the firm. She is in quite good shape, but is fifty, and a bit more decorum might be expected.

Then, we all sat down to dinner. She and the other miscreants were screaming and yelling and causing a scene, and ordering more and more drinks. Tons of them. At one point they all ordered three drinks simultaneously. Eventually they got so out of control that one of the senior secretaries went up to them and quietly tried to get them to calm down. One of the wild girls shook her braids and said "I am who I am and everybody just got to deal!"

Yeah, not so much.

A bit later the Human Resources manager went up to them to warn them that their behavior was way out of line, and that they needed to calm down. They did - for five minutes. Then they ordered more drinks. Hoochee skirt woman then got up and stumbled over to THE MANAGING PARTNER'S TABLE, sat down next to him, and was chatting a mile a minute. Drunk off her ass, talking to the Managing Partner. Great. She then returned to her table (which was sadly also my table), and she and her crew ordered many more drinks. Finally, the managing partner had enough, and called the restaurant manager over and told him to serve no more alcohol to anyone at the party. The entire party - cut off, just to try and control this crew.

Cut off from their alcohol, and with some food in their bellies, the wild crew started calming down. Hoochee skirt woman was falling asleep at the table. By the end of the night they all had to be poured into cabs to go home.

Did I mention that this is a very conservative, restrained work environment?

Now, some of you may want to champion their freedom to be who they are at all times, and their rejection of convention. Some may applaud their "keeping it realness" and so forth. The problem is this: none of these folks had a great reputation to begin with as they have problems with appropriate office behavior and dress at most times. In the New Year, there are going to be staff cutbacks here at the office.

Who do you think is going to be on the chopping block first?

I watched four people lose their jobs last night, because they just wanted to have a partying good time on the firm's dollar.

And people wonder why I hate office socializing events.