21 of the wildest office holiday party stories we've ever heard

VGstockstudio/Shutterstock

No matter how many times we warn you against letting loose at the company holiday party, some people just don't listen.

But it's important to remember, you're still on company time, and how you behave matters.

As a lesson to us all, we asked readers — and combed the web — for wild stories of office holiday parties past. Here are some of the most cringe-worthy:

Some answers have been edited for clarity.

'Our new janitor has no idea why everyone is treating him so nicely'

"There was this quiet, old janitor that worked our office building who was scheduled to retire on Christmas, so our Christmas party kind of included his farewell; we gave gifts to each other, put up a Christmas tree, people brought cakes and pastries, Christmas stuff.

"Then here comes the old janitor and he leaves a fairly big bag of presents under the tree; we're all kind of surprised because no one seemed to interact with him that much, but nonetheless we thank him and wish him the best and stuff, then he leaves and presumably sets off to the Midwest. The next day, we open the presents, including his.

"Turns out, the retiring janitor gave everyone in the office a little bottle of sulfuric acid. Everybody got one, even me, I still have it. We don't know where he got them or how much they cost, but apparently he hated our guts.

"Our new janitor has no idea why everyone is treating him so nicely."

—Anonymous Business Insider reader

'That was a mistake'

"My friend is in charge of a number of temporary hires, contract workers, and freelancers at an ad agency. Her company's HR department sent a mass save-the-date email for the holiday party to everyone, including the people she has under her. That was a mistake. She now has to contact each one and tell them they are not invited to the company party." 

—Anonymous Business Insider reader

'The guy who brought the brownies grabbed the wrong plate ... '

"A place that I worked at about eight years ago had a huge party. One of the managers brought brownies and the director of operations (let's call him Jack) was the first to try them as we were setting up the food table.

"About half an hour later, as we were finishing up, Jack starts giggling and talking about how tall he feels. The guy who brought the brownies grabbed the wrong plate as he left the house and accidentally brought pot brownies.

"Needless to say, we gathered as many of the stoners as we could to clear that plate before anyone else got to them and tried to keep Jack away from other management." 

—Redditor