PLFXpert 0 #1 July 7, 2005 I have seriously had it with the "chipping in" for so-and-so's birthday or whatever in the office. It's been a problem in every job---as a mortgage broker with 100s of others in my office, someone had a birthday everyweek and I was asked to "chip in" for someone I barely knew, but didn't like much of what I knew. I worked at my previous company for 2 days and was in training, when they interrupted our training and asked if we wanted to "chip in" for the company holiday gift tree. I switched to my competitor not long ago and now work from home and have worked here 2 months and am being asked to donate $50 to a spa treatment for 2 of our sales assistants who have dropped the ball on all of my first sales accounts--I had to pick up the pieces and save the deal each time and I'm supposed to be sending them to a spa for working "so hard" for me? Does anyone else see my point, or am I just really stingy? Oh, and my birthday is in June--so I never got the damn balloons or cake in school either since I had the "summer" birthday. Maybe it's a childhood scar. Ha!Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 256 #2 July 7, 2005 No i am with you on that - if i don't know the person i don't chip in. And i wouldn't expect them to for me!Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #3 July 7, 2005 The problem is not with you! Another thing that used to bother me is the annual United Way fundraising in which corporate America applies significant arm-twisting to its employees to donate. Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #4 July 7, 2005 Ditto. A card came round last week which I signed as always with some short meaningless quip. I was one of the first to sign. Then a colleague brought it over again and said it was going round again as they had forgotten to include an envelope for donations. I told them thanks but I wasn't putting anything in. They looked me funny so I told them I thought the person leaving was a cunt. They looked at me funny and looked across to my team leader who added, "yeah they're a real cunt, I'm not putting in either". I think that did the trick cos they walked off and left me alone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 256 #5 July 7, 2005 Is this the legendary tact and diplomacy that you are reknowned for? Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #6 July 7, 2005 You know me - Roy Walker's got nothing on me when it comes to saying what I see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 256 #7 July 7, 2005 And what is it you do for a living?!! "I'm sorry your honour but the defendant is a c***! Wish i didn't have to represent the fucker!"Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #8 July 7, 2005 QuoteI told them thanks but I wasn't putting anything in. They looked me funny so I told them I thought the person leaving was a cunt. They looked at me funny and looked across to my team leader who added, "yeah they're a real cunt, I'm not putting in either". I think that did the trick cos they walked off and left me alone. A lawyer calling someone a cunt?!!! Damn--that's like Bill Clinton calling someone a scumbag--they would indeed need to be pretty bad! (Here in the US we live in a lawsuit-crazy culture and many, if not most, people see lawyers in a very negative light.) Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morcyk 0 #9 July 7, 2005 I narrow the field even more. If it's not someone that I hang out with on a regular basis (like going to the bar after work or jumping), then I don't chip in unless it's some momentus event like a first child. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #10 July 7, 2005 That AND the Girl Scout Cookie...School Band...Christmas Lights for the needy...Magazines for the toothless... Yadda yadda - give me money...daily parade of 'office welfare' beggars use to drive me so crazy that I started to ask for recites so I could 'show the wife' why we couldn't make the house payment... "Sorry honey, I gave all the money away at the office so Cindy Lou at work could send her fat grease ball illegitimate litter of future federal inmates to Camp Snakebite for a month so she could have some time to herself to kick her smack habbit and maybe get knocked up again..." ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kingbunky 3 #11 July 7, 2005 i get funny looks when i pass the envelope on without contributing. 'but so-and-so's retiring' they say, 'so what, they get a pension and a permanent vacation, and i'm supposed to help them out?' screw that. i don't even know half of the people, and those i do, i don't really like."Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart." MB4252 TDS699 killing threads since 2001 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigra 0 #12 July 7, 2005 I hear ya! Its a combination of office politics and blackmail. If you want the sales assistants to do a better job in the future, you need to bribe them, huh? If you don't contribute, you get a rep at your new job for being stingy. (Not that you are- $50.00 is freakin' ridiculous!) I've had stuff like that at my office and sometimes I give in to the peer pressure and pay up, others times I do not. And to be honest, I have no problem with the girl scout cookies or wrapping paper or that kind of thing. (Even baby showers!) But pitching in for stuff like birthdays and secretary's day (when I have no secretary of my own and no one does anything for MY birthday) really irks me! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
droquette 0 #13 July 7, 2005 if the person sucks.. play a aprank on them... put some used TP in the envelope or a buger or something nasty to mess with them... or maybe i would just drop a nickel in or something as if it were a bum asking for a handout...HISPA 72 ----- "Muff Brother" 3733 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigra 0 #14 July 7, 2005 Its her sales assistant. If she wants any kind of work out of her (or him) she probably needs to pay up. Its inappopriate- blackmail really- but unless she can get more people to take a stand with her and not pay, she's the one who looks bad! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #15 July 7, 2005 I ALWAYS hated this thing - the office donations. . .till I went to work for a cancer center here near where I live. They had a very strict policy about asking for money in the office. They could post an envelope in the lounge and put a sign up, but could not pass around the envelope. That way if you wanted to give, you could do it anonymously and for any amount you felt like giving. If you didn't want to give, no one knew you didn't give. It was a great system. . .and the ONLY one allowed.________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #16 July 7, 2005 I give in to the peer pressure and pay up, others times I do not. And to be honest, I have no problem with the girl scout cookies or wrapping paper or that kind of thing. *** The cookie thing became an issue with me because no less than 20 'parents' would come to my office selling GS cookies for their kids...and I have a daughter of my own in Scouts! What the hell am I gonna do with 60 boxes of Girl Scout cookies?! ...and I thought the idea was for the KIDS to sell 'em door to door! One time the Dept. Mgr. called a meeting... His 25 year old high school drop out kid still living at home, turned in enough aluminum cans to buy himself a jig saw and was starting his own 'business' so we all 'volunteered' to buy his shining achievement of a 'product line' ...a home made "Jinga" set...the wooden building block puzzle... "He's working hard to buy a car...the game is selling for only 40.00..." (they're 6 bucks at Wal-Mart, and they actually fit together) I kept track one year, and the payout was just at 2100.00 for crap I didn't want, need or care about... Oh...I work at home now....it's not any better....but at least I'm related to the 'beggars' ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigra 0 #17 July 7, 2005 We've only got two parents at the office selling girl scout cookies, and I consider them my only "source"! The school catalogs full of crap no one needs are a different story, but no one really pressures anyone else to buy anything. Since its voluntary, I don't mind, and the wrapping paper- while over priced- is usually decent quality and I will use it. Plus, I figure I'm doing my part keeping kids out of the Chicago public school system and giving them a shot at a better education! My old job was an entirely different story, though! My former boss was always trying to sell things for her kids, but wouldn't let anyone else do the same. (She'd do stuff like buy a bunch of candy from Walmart and sell it for a buck claiming it was a band fundraiser!) That kind of stuff I boycotted! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaoskitty 0 #18 July 7, 2005 I was just talking to a co-worker about this yesterday. Every time someone gets married, engaged, or has a baby, an envelope gets passed around with everyones name on it so you can cross it off when you've had it. If its someone I work with, I'll throw in, but sorry Bobby Sue on the eighth floor.. you got married 2 years ago for the second time, why should I chip in for the third. One of the bonuses for being on the road most of the time.. I miss all of the cake and ice cream. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fallingchip 0 #19 July 7, 2005 QuoteThe problem is not with you! Another thing that used to bother me is the annual United Way fundraising in which corporate America applies significant arm-twisting to its employees to donate. Walt YES YES YES! I knew there was another United Way basher out there other than me. I am liking you more and more with each of your post... For the thread at hand: If you don't feel comfortable chipping in then don't. I don't mind the "Pick A Name" at christmas time, but for birthdays? I won't do it.______________________________________________ "A radical man is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air." -Franklin Delano Roosevelt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #20 July 7, 2005 QuoteIf you want the sales assistants to do a better job in the future, you need to bribe them, huh? If you don't contribute, you get a rep at your new job for being stingy. (Not that you are- $50.00 is freakin' ridiculous!) $50 is nothing for my manager and co-worker's making $500k/year. But, I jsut switched from my previous company (their competition) and forgo'd my previous commission to start all over from scratch. I don't believe in giving before receiving--Ha! Just kidding, but like you said, you have to bribe these people. Having said that, I passed on the opportunity to help them burn their feet in parafin or yank off their eyebrows with hot wax. Maybe next time...Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #21 July 7, 2005 At one company I worked for, I decided that there was absolutely no way I was going to sign up to donate to United Way even if it meant getting fired. I found out that all the managers (poor bastards!) were under extreme pressure to have "100% participation". I stuck to my guns and did not knuckle under, so my manager did some creative financing and donated (in my name) from the department's budget! What's really funny to me is the enormous amounts of money and employee time that corporations are willing to spend on getting their employees to donate to United Way. They would probably be better off just making a single corporate donation and not harrassing the employees about it. Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #22 July 7, 2005 Oh my gosh, the wedding thing. I'm part of the club that's been together 5 years and constantly get the "so when are you getting married" question. It's the most ridiculous thing and I never ask this of anyone b/c I understand how annoying it is. Futhermore, is it really fair to buy wedding gifts (in addition to the pre-wedding shower gift, the bachelorette party gift and then the baby shower gift, the baby born gift) for all your friends who are now divorcing (all within the time my boy-toy and I have been together) and have received nothing in return? These same friends complain we have not had a party since buying our home two years ago--I think I'll throw one and require everyone bring a "house-warming" gift.Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigra 0 #23 July 7, 2005 Good for you! That sounds like an outrageous request under the circumstances! (Kind of reminds me of that Friends episode where Ross just moved into a building and they wanted him to pitch in $100.00 for the janitor's retirement party!) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallinWoman 1 #24 July 7, 2005 QuoteYES YES YES! I knew there was another United Way basher out there other than me. I am liking you more and more with each of your post... We get a United Way envelope in our mailbox with our name already on it. We are then "encouraged"' to give. They claim that they do not keep track of who donates and who doesn't, but I do not believe it! I refuse to give every year. I give to two charities that I feel strongly about....and I do not force my feelings on anyone else. ~Anne I'm a Doll!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #25 July 7, 2005 Ha! You don't retire early winning "The Most Donations to Co-Worker's" award. I realize I'm sounding very selfish here, but I have my monthly charity donations, donate my volunteer time and usually am good with doing favors for others. Having said that (to make myself feel better) I truly believe in making YOURSELF happy before others---I just don't think you can be the best person to others, unless you've satisfied your own needs first. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
