I’ve endured and celebrated many types of holiday parties from the somewhat sad lunch affair, exchanging gifts around a table in a cramped conference room to the overly opulent bash at the boss’s “show home,” an event that left us even more dissatisfied with our salaries and the lack of a year-end bonus.

There was the corporate “Celebration of Success,” a dressy deal in a hotel ballroom where drink tickets were doled out with the same generosity as time off. Every year we went and ate the tasteless chicken dish, watched the uninspired slide show, whether there had been success to celebrate, or not.

Some companies invite spouses; others do not. Some parties send you away with corporate swag, others send you home with the promise of a hangover.

What’s important to know is that going or not is a career choice. Of course not all companies or employees see it this way, but many do, and if you’re unknowingly doing your career path damage by skipping out on the (however lame, however tasteless) holiday to-do, consider this your heads-up. Make an appearance, however painful. It’s better than being remembered in the staff meeting as the “one who wasn’t there.” Who knows? You might actually have a great time.

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