Haunting year-end parties: Drink to your heart's content, play lots of annoying games

Handsome people drink too, ugly people drink even more, if they get a bonus they have to treat, if the boss criticizes them they will punish themselves, and then there are all the weird games... Year End Parties (YEP) are for fun and bonding, but many parties have become a nightmare for employees.

The year-end party is truly a time for fun, bonding, and creating more excitement for a better new working year - Photo: AN VI

At the end of December or the beginning of the new year, it is not difficult to come across lavish banquets organized by companies or businesses organizing YEP in restaurants and eateries.

"Summary" is all about beer and wine

Returning to Ho Chi Minh City after a two-day year-end company trip to Vung Tau, Mr. Manh Hoang (26 years old, living in Thu Duc City) still felt sick to his stomach when talking about alcohol.

The company has about 30 people, so boss Hoang rented a 35-seat car from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau to rent a homestay for vacation. Mr. Hoang said in the meeting that the boss announced the trip combined with the year-end YEP session so that everyone could look back on a year of work and learn from experience.

"Honestly, at first, I and a few others had something to do that day and planned not to go, but the boss combined work with it so we had to go," said Mr. Hoang.

As soon as he got on the bus, Mr. Hoang was shocked to see dozens of beer crates stacked under the bus. He said he was not a good drinker and would have a few drinks for fun, but he would avoid being forced to drink too much.

He said he was traveling to Vung Tau with his company, but Mr. Hoang didn't know what the sea smelled like because from the beginning of the day until he returned, he only drank "alcoholic drinks" and didn't touch any sea water.

The main party started in the evening, after about 15 minutes of the boss's speech, everyone joined the party. There was no plan, no year-end review, but the sound Mr. Hoang heard the most was... 123 go go!

Mr. Hoang drank about two cans and then vomited while everyone kept inviting each other. "Every time I felt like it was my turn, I tried to avoid it because I was weak. I never expected the boss to punish me and force me to drink two glasses in a row, making me feel like I was going to faint," Mr. Hoang shook his head in disappointment.

He admitted that when he was drunk, he felt so high that he drank whatever anyone gave him, and then went to the bathroom to vomit. When he woke up in the morning, he didn't know who had brought him back to his room.

"Not yet, I'm busy and have another drink. In general, when I go to YEP in Vung Tau, I get drunk half the time, and the other half I sit at the drinking table. I'm so sick of it, and it's like this every year, not just recently," Mr. Hoang shook his head, considering it a "misfortune" and not an occasion to look forward to.

Returning to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Hoang lay around all day, unable to do anything. He threw up everything he ate. "From green bile to yellow bile," he lamented.

Many people fear year-end parties because they are often forced to drink alcohol - Photo: AN VI

"If we don't drink, we're not respecting each other."

Talking about his year-end parties, Le Nguyen Quang Minh (28 years old, living in District 7), currently a freelance graphic designer, shook his head. He always loved the freedom of his career. There were no time constraints, no long meetings, and no social pressure like when working at a company.

Only the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year always haunt him. Recently, Minh was invited to attend the year-end party of a major partner - where he has collaborated for more than two years. At first, he felt happy because this was an opportunity to meet, connect and thank those who have accompanied him. But the party quickly became an obsession when he was constantly forced to drink alcohol.

"At first, I politely refused and explained that I couldn't drink. Later on, people tried to force me to drink more, saying "drink a glass for friendship", and then teased me that not drinking would be disrespectful to the person who invited me," Minh shared with a bored look.

As a freelancer, Mr. Minh is not part of any company's payroll but still has to maintain good relationships with customers, which puts him in a difficult position: "Refusing easily offends, but agreeing goes against personal principles. Every time I don't drink, people say I'm not respectful, which makes me very embarrassed."

Minh's "drinking party" has many excuses. Handsome men have to drink, ugly men drink even more. Whoever gets a bonus has to treat the whole table, whoever gets criticized by the boss has to punish themselves...

Currently, Mr. Minh is working at three different places at the same time. If he "gives his all" at this company party, tomorrow no one will do the work he is doing at the other place.

Mr. Minh's "tribulation" did not come just once, he still had two YEP sessions with two other places, scheduled to take place before Tet holiday.

I pray to God not to organize or organize other fun things, but every time YEP forces me to drink beer in the morning, I can't get up. Drinking together is fun, but if I don't finish my work the next morning, I still get scolded as usual.

Le Nguyen Quang Minh

Expensive and annoying

Minh said the most tiring thing in the YEP session was the story of scrutinizing each other. "Especially the year-end bonus, freelancers like us will receive less bonus than regular employees so we are also very shy to share such things," Minh added.

In addition, during YEP sessions, young members often organize cultural activities, dancing and singing. Minh said there is a trend on TikTok where they imitate it, which makes people in their late 30s like him not like it. "Shaking back and forth is very strange, after all, I'm already working, not like students who dance and sing like that," Minh explained.

Not only alcohol, for women, every time they go to YEP, they have to buy new clothes. For example, Ms. Thu (26 years old, living in Thu Duc City), an event organizer for a company in District 1, said that her company's YEP also has a "dress code" that makes her spend more money to buy new clothes.

Ms. Thu said she usually wears office clothes, mainly skirts and simple colored shirts. Recently, the company's dress code for YEP was white and red, which made her very confused.

"Of course there was no red because I rarely wear that color. I only wear white shirts to work every day. I couldn't possibly wear my office clothes to a year-end party. So I had to grit my teeth and go to the store to buy a new shirt, which cost nearly 500,000 VND," Ms. Thu said.

Because her job requires a high level of aesthetics, every year Ms. Thu's company has a different dress code. There are colors that are so bright that she doesn't dare wear them.

"In my opinion, we are all colleagues and we know each other, so for the party, just dressing neatly and politely is enough. For me, not having a family is fine, but for many women who are married, at the end of the year, there are so many things to do and they still have to spend money on something they only wear once," Ms. Thu expressed.

Teambuilding games are also a fear for introverts like Ms. Thu: "In the past, my company organized some "touchy" games like passing fruit by mouth, popping balloons with breasts... some people like me often didn't participate because they were shy."

This year, Ms. Thu's company organized a different type of group game, not "touchy-feely" but more annoying. "The whole group will fill in their names and put the ballots in the box, each person will take turns picking them, and whoever's name is picked will ask the person on the ballot a random question. The person whose name is on the ballot can choose to answer or drink two glasses of beer," Ms. Thu described.

According to Ms. Thu, this game is only fun when the other person asks the right questions. She said there are many questions about family, love, and even sensitive topics that are very difficult to answer.

Ms. Thu believes that YEP is only really fun if it has limits and is a group bonding event: "Because I don't want to ruin everyone's fun, I also participate, but when it's my turn, I'm asked some very strange questions, so I have to drink two glasses. Many people are embarrassed to answer, so they drink continuously, and even pass out at the table, but they still sit and play. Some people told me the next day that they will make excuses not to go to the next YEP."

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhung-bua-tiec-cuoi-nam-am-anh-uong-phai-het-minh-choi-cung-lam-tro-kho-chiu-20250113105941817.htm