Don't you hate being pressured into things...

[Kev]

OK, so I'm an intern and I'm still trying to pay my thousands of dollars in tuition/loans/rent and today one of my coworkers decides we're going to give our boss a huge christmas present. She wanted me to put $60 in. That's twice as much as I spend on family members (if they're lucky). I'm not made of money.

So I told her all she's getting from me is $20 at the most and she acted all disappointed. I mean for christ's sake, these people make at least twice as much as me and don't have to pay 15,000 for school as well. WTF?

 

[rh71]

It is completely inappropriate for them to expect anything from anybody. We were doing a baby shower for someone here that everybody liked and the most anybody gave was $20. Some gave $10 - which is typical anyway. People have families to support, houses to keep up, and loans to pay back. Some bring lunch from home just to save $5-$10... how can any amount of money be expected at the workplace? For you to give $20 and get that kind of look, I'd be P I S S E D.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: rh71
It is completely inappropriate for them to expect anything from anybody. We were doing a baby shower for someone here that everybody liked and the most anybody gave was $20. Some gave $10 - which is typical anyway. People have families to support, houses to keep up, and loans to pay back. Some bring lunch from home just to save $5-$10... how can any amount of money be expected at the workplace? For you to give $20 and get that kind of look, I'd be P I S S E D.

Damn straight.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: rh71
It is completely inappropriate for them to expect anything from anybody. We were doing a baby shower for someone here that everybody liked and the most anybody gave was $20. Some gave $10 - which is typical anyway. People have families to support, houses to keep up, and loans to pay back. Some bring lunch from home just to save $5-$10... how can any amount of money be expected at the workplace? For you to give $20 and get that kind of look, I'd be P I S S E D.

I am.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: maladroit
OK, so I'm an intern and I'm still trying to pay my thousands of dollars in tuition/loans/rent and today one of my coworkers decides we're going to give our boss a huge christmas present. She wanted me to put $60 in. That's twice as much as I spend on family members (if they're lucky). I'm not made of money.

That's ridiculous. Is this person sleeping with the boss or something?

 

[jjones]

Tell her that for a BJ you'll kick in another $20.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: maladroit
OK, so I'm an intern and I'm still trying to pay my thousands of dollars in tuition/loans/rent and today one of my coworkers decides we're going to give our boss a huge christmas present. She wanted me to put $60 in. That's twice as much as I spend on family members (if they're lucky). I'm not made of money.

So I told her all she's getting from me is $20 at the most and she acted all disappointed. I mean for christ's sake, these people make at least twice as much as me and don't have to pay 15,000 for school as well. WTF?

If she is that upset with $20, I would not give anything.

 

[kranky]

The people in my group give me a small gift for Christmas each year, and I wish they wouldn't.

My guess is the person doing the collecting is hoping that the boss will be overwhelmed with the wonderful gift and she'll make sure the boss finds out who was responsible - her! Kicking in $60 in that situation is kind of like subsidizing someone else's brown-nosing.

Even though they only collect $1-$2 per person for the gift I get at Christmas, it's not right and I doubt that the boss would care if there was ANY gift.

What I do when approached to donate for a gift for someone higher up is just to smile and say "No, thanks."

 

[XMan]

That's odd, in six years with my company I don't think any workgroup I've been on has ever bought our boss a Christmas present. Of course in those six years I've had 5 managers.