The results of our Christmas Quiz are in and they paint a very festive picture for police officers in the UK.
It's that time of year again, when the mince pies come out and the carollers start singing, oh what a joyous time it is! Christmas is a chance to reflect on another 12 months passed and to be thankful for time spent with family and friends. The food and drink are excessive, the parties come thick and fast and there's plenty to celebrate.
So, with that in mind, it brings us great pleasure to give you the results of our recent Christmas Quiz - it offers an illuminating look into the festive season from an officer's point of view, we're sure you'll agree!
Here are the results… drum roll, please!
Christmas is a special time of year for the majority who responded to our quiz, with 52.5% of you saying 'I always look forward to Christmas' and almost one-fifth stating 'I wish it could be Christmas every day'. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of you are already in the festive swing, having put up your decorations 'before Christmas Eve'.
For just over half, the best thing about Christmas is 'being able to spend time with family', but other interesting responses included 'sleeping after dinner', 'not having to wake up to an alarm' and, quite a popular one for some unknown reason, 'double pay'.
Your favourite Christmas song is 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues, while it was a close run thing when it comes to your favourite Christmas telly. In the end, festive comedy 'Elf' emerged the winner, but it was closely followed by another Christmas favourite, 'Home Alone'. Here's a response that we certainly appreciate, though: 'It's the one day of the year the TV is switched off... no telly whatsoever, as it's time for family, silly games and trying not to get in any arguments'.
That said, your favourite games on Christmas Day were Charades and Pictionary, but there were other novel responses from some of you; 'poker' is a new one for us, while the game 'see who's late for parade or phones in sick because they weren't organised and everyone knows they wanted Christmas off' sounds like fun.
When deciding what Christmas food and drink you'll be looking forward to the most, 'stuffing your face' will be the order of the day for the two-fifths who said they'll be tucking in to every kind of Christmas treat we listed in the quiz. That includes mince pies, pigs in blankets, Christmas pudding, Brussels sprouts and plenty of turkey sandwiches - quite the feast!
Now, when it comes to your colleagues, 41% said the best Secret Santa gift would be a 'funny mug', while just one in 20 said they wouldn't participate - bah, humbug! However, some of the other gifts you listed that we thought deserved an honourable mention included 'Spurs socks and underpants', a 'Where's Wally? outfit' and 'Extra hot chilli sauce (they all love it!)', while a 'swap to do nights' sounds pretty generous to us.
Finally, the thought of working on Christmas saw something of a mixed bag of responses, bringing a combination of tears for your favourite choccies that've been eaten by loved ones when you get in late from your shift, joy at the pleasure of spending time with the aforementioned choccy munchers and outright dread - especially when it comes to dealing with drunken members of the public.
Santa Claus is coming to town...
That brings us neatly to the end of our festive update, but we'll leave you with the winning anecdote for the funniest on-duty Christmas story, provided by officer Rob Barrett:
"It was Christmas Eve and I was called to a very tipsy male dressed as Santa, lying in his front garden and refusing to use the front door, stating he had to use the chimney.
'He kept trying to whistle for Rudolf', but had to be quiet as not to wake everyone. The only name he would give was 'Father Christmas'. That was, until his wife came to the door and within seconds, he sobered up and whispered, 'Is it too late to get arrested?'"
All that remains is to say a big 'thank you' from everyone at Metfriendly for your support and continued interest throughout the year. Merry Christmas to all and here's to a happy 2019!
