I need other people's opinions PLEASE!!

[cronewitch]

I work in a small office, 15 - 10 people. Every event around here results in a "party" (marriage, baby, new job, etc.) which is fine, the Company pays for cake and ice cream or for happy hour for everyone. I feel that everyone around here is an adult, they don't NEED presents, they will get gifts at their baby shower, bridal shower, or wedding. So point being... every time we have one of these parties people give at least $20. Well, this week we are having two parties...one person got a new job, one is getting married...so I'm expected to give $40. I already wrote the check. I don't want to look cheap and not give any money at all. I started thinking that I'm being selfish about this, but then I think I'm not b/c if it were me getting married, having a baby, or getting a new job I wouldn't expect a gift,the little party and a card would be enough for me. I know $40 does not seem like that much money, but this is getting pretty frequent. Most of the people in our office are young and will have all three of the above events (marriage, babies, and a new job). Please give me your perspective on this.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

At my wonderful DH's job, everyone puts in a set amount twice a year and that fund is used for these sorts of things. That seems to work well for them ~ but there is a bit of peer pressure for everyone to contribute to this fund.
At my old job, these things were done on a case-by-case basis. If there was a collection for a gift, etc, a large manila envelope with a card inside (and possibly a potluck sign up sheet) would circulate, and if you wanted to sign the card, you needed to contribute $$. And if you didn't want to ... you could just pass the envelope to the next person.

[DVM gone riding]

hmm-is the pat answer just give what you feel comfortable with. I understand baby/marriage but new job, why would the old job give you money for leaving?? I think I would draw the line at that one, but i get told all the time I am cheap

[Plain Old Petunia]

Cronewitch, you are such a stinker!

[trimatty471]

I personally would not give $40.

[Deleted]

It wouldn't be right if this message didn't migrate with us. Thanks, Crone.

[TD2K]

Later is going to develop Sam's twitch

[Deleted]

Hahahahaha......Poor Later and Sammy are going to have fits.

LOVE it.

[qofcc]

I work in an office of mostly higher earners, but even we don't expect everyone to contribute $20 every time someone has an event. We pass an envelope with a card and people who want to contribute sign their name and put money in the card, then the person coordinating the event buys a gift with the money collected. Some people give $5, some give $50... the amount is anonymous and it depends on their circumstances and their relationship with the person with the event.

[kgb18]

I understand baby/marriage but new job, why would the old job give you money for leaving??

At all of my old jobs we always bought gifts for people who were leaving and usually took up a collection to buy drinks at Happy Hour. But then again, the people I worked with were a very close bunch. A co-worker used to say: "We're family ... A dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless."

[joynerk]

$20/person @ 10-15 people adds up, those must be some nice gifts!

Can you just talk around the office and say how you think $10/person would be just fine? Or just give whatever you can and tell them that's all you can do now. Jeez, you shouldn't feel obligated! They're co-workers, not family! ;D

[foreverheloise]

How about opting to get an individual gift instead of contributing....I found a really nice such and such that he/she will just love, so I was going to give that instead. You get to control the gift and how much it costs.
Is it me or are some members really snarky here? Seems odd.

[Happy prose]

I work for an organization that has close to 300 people, and they all get married, have babies, parents die, etc. For awhile I picked and chose which ones to contribute to, but now I give nothing. It's easier!

[ysi]

I know its better to give than receive, but seriously, after many years of giving covering subsituting volunteering, but never receiving in more ways than one, I am all tapped out.

[Deleted]

Crone:
Not nice... but very funny

[Deleted]

OMG!!! Cronnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne!!!

[Malarky]

LOL, Cronewitch.
I was trying to remember the name of this thread to add to the favorites list.
Last Christmas I posted you a whole bunch of Christmas presents on the thread, but when the thread was resurrected, they were nothing but red x's.

[cronewitch]

Is it me or are some members really snarky here? Seems odd.


Not just you they are snarky because they don't like this thread for some reason, like they have seen it before.

[Abby Normal]

De ja Vu?

[dividend]

Wait a minute...

I see what you did there!

[suzwantstobefree]

I work at a company and our department has about 10 employees. The company pays for lunch and a cake whenever there is a birthday in the month. When I started, there were 5 September Birthday's (including mine). So, rather than getting 5 cakes, I decided that we would have one birthday cake and one lunch for everyone in the department whenever there is a birthday in a particular month. It is about $100 - $150 on those months and we have about 4 months we have to do this since there are a lot of duplicating birthday's. The company pays it all and we don't exchange gifts. At Christmas time, the employees get together and buy a present for the supervisors, but that is about all we do. It works for us and we don't have all this constant asking and giving.

[zibazinski]

Plese delet this thread permanently.

[cronewitch]

Why should we delete it? People would miss it.

[Frappuccino]

Crone, you must be RICH!!


Just say no the next time the money envelope is being passed around. It's hard the first few times, but you will get better at it with time. I'm a grump and I don't care

[azphx1972]

If you're not comfortable with giving gifts to your coworkers, then you shouldn't. Personally I find the idea of giving gifts to people you don't really care about to be a bit insincere, and I prefer to donate to charity so that the truly needy will benefit. If the tables were turned, I wouldn't want my coworkers collecting money to get me something because it would make me feel weird, and would probably change the workplace dynamic a bit. We're there to make money, not to give it away, so I prefer to keep things strictly professional.

[Small Biz Owner]

cronewitch Nice job.

[Nazgul Girl]

I just don't give anymore unless someone's really sick, or someone has lost a close family member. I don't give $20 if ever, except when a friend's son had kidney failure and needed to move to an apartment because his sister had kicked him out of her basement because she wanted to rent it out. Then I did pony up. He is a nice person and only gets a small S.S. check.

[happyscooter]

Did anybody keep the 'Worst Christmas Gift' thread?

[Bluerobin]

When they pass the envelope, if there is cash in it, just sign as if you had paid and pass it along. Many people did that in my old office.

[Deleted]

Please people! Can we show a little respect and let this old, tired thread just die quietly with a bit of dignity!