Run Rudolph Run

In my lifetime I have owned sweaters people thought were ugly.  I have owned sweaters for Christmas, but I have never owned an “ugly Christmas sweater”.  In December 2023 I had just started working in a call center (again), and they had an “ugly christmas sweater” day.  My training class had dwindled down to 4 of us.  The trainer suggested we could (read that as SHOULD) demonstrate our team unity and commitment to corporate culture by participating.  If you know me, you know that is really not my style.  Plus, I don’t trust that everyone else will participate, and the very last thing I want is to stand out for looking ridiculous.  However I allowed myself to be persuaded to participate in ugly sweater day at work, against my better judgment.  As the token male member of the class, I was going to wear a Santa-esque sweater and the other class members would all wear reindeer inspired sweaters.  The big day was scheduled for the first Monday back after Thanksgiving break.  Someone in the class even passed out reminder notes not to forget.

All my fears were confirmed when I arrived at work that fateful Monday  wearing a newly acquired ugly Christmas sweater to discover the others in my group “forgot” and I am the only one in the room wearing a Santa rejected sweater. This is absolutely 100% the reason I don’t participate in things. I was determined to dash home at lunch and change, but my new supervisor persuaded me not to so that I could get my picture taken and emailed in with everyone else for a chance to win the random drawing prize.  After lunch I posed for the picture and they emailed me a copy so I could send it to corporate.

Then I discovered that as a new hire, my email was restricted to internal emails only, meaning just on the call center floor.  No way to send the email to corporate, as they were in another building, across town.  I told them I was feeling like I was being singled out.  They assured me I was not.

At the end of the day, as I was taking my last break, one of my coworkers on another team asked to take a picture with me because of a scavenger hunt where they are required to take a picture with Santa.  I posed for the picture, but honestly, is that an HR offense?  Seems like I should have filed a grievance.  They all definitely made my naughty list that year.