The Most Ungrateful People on Earth

[mondo joe]

We had a good year at work and our VERY generous boss decided to buy some nice apparel with our logo embroidered on. We went for the very best stuff we could find - best material, most expensive. We took a lot of time setting this up.

We chose one color and asked people to pick their size. One person called to complain about the color. Another three got together to say they wanted something different.

Meanwhile we have two temp employees who have been around for a couple of months who shyly asked if they could be included - in fact they were included already and I showed them they were on the list. They were thrilled.

I've accepted that NO ONE DECISION will please everyone.

But it would be nice if people could be grateful for a GIFT instead of behaving in ways they'd never consider acceptable in their own children.


EDIT TO ADD: Our non profit human service org is being acquired by a larger one. This was a gesture aimed at maintaining our identity in this bigger system. And our boss thought of this particular item because he received the same some years ago and likes it so much. It was NOT an effort to get people to advertise a company.

[progmom]

1. I hear you.

Sounds like my group. So childish. It's embarrassing.

[mondo joe]

3. AGH! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.

Honestly - it's a GIFT!

I can't tell you how unhappy they'd be if they gave someone a present and the recipient said "I don't like this - I had something else in mind."

[4morewars]

2. Wierd , isn't it ?

Work seems to bring out the worst in people.

[auntAgonist]

4. I worked with a man

who REFUSED to wear a work LOGO on anything. He would remove patches from EVERY piece he was ever given. Was adamant that he would NOT advertise for them OR be a puppet as he saw it.


All these were gifts too.

disgusting really.

[rwheeler31]

10. Why run around wiyh ads for your boss?

nt

[mondo joe]

13. Since we're a non profit human service org that people theoretically

Since we're a non profit human service org that people theoretically are proud to serve in, I don't think that's much of a problem.

[auntAgonist]

15. If you're receiving a jacket or a shirt as a GIFT

GIFT ... present, freebie, .... why not? ? ?

[mark11727]

11. Had one of those in my job a few years ago...

... so I'd gently nudge him into giving me his stuff. I love my company, and I have no problem wearing the corporate logo. It ensures that I stay on my best behavior, since this makes me sort of an "ambassador" for the company.

[stopbush]

5. Sorry, but I can't side with your boss on this one.

I've been in the position to decide gifts for staff, and I usually default to money: the employees know the value of the gift and they are free to spend it as they wish.

Handing out clothing with corporate logos on it is, frankly, bullshit. Is the company going to pay the employees to be walking advertisements? Probably not. I remember this happening at a major music company I worked at in NYC. They handed out denim jackets as Xmas "bonuses" to the lower-wage staff while the muckity mucks got their percentage of salary checks in the tens of thousands of dollars. Most of those who received the denim advertisement immediately grabbed a scissors and ripped out the embroidered logo to make the jacket wearable in public.

Just as you assumed they'd all be happy with the wearable advert, they maybe assumed they'd get something a little more useful to their real needs besides the Jelly of the Month Club.

Now, if your company is giving out cash bonuses or something else of real value and the clothing was just an added treat, then yeah, they ought to just shut up and accept it...and throw it in the closet if they don't like it.

On edit: another year, this same music company let the employees order a "gift" of any 10 CDs they wanted from the over 8,000 titles we had in the warehouse. They made a big deal about the "worth over $170 at retail" value of the gift. Of course, since we did our own manufacturing under license, these "gift" discs were flagged as promotional giveaways, which meant no artist or publisher royalties were due on their distribution. That meant the actual cost to the record company was about $1.15 per CD. That "$170 value" was actually worth $11.15...and everybody in the company knew it.

Additional on edit: a simple solution could have been to give them the apparel sans the corporate logo.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. Agreed

A good year at the company means employees get cash bonuses, and not some piece of clothing that renders them little more than walking advertisements for the company.

[mondo joe]

12. I think this is a somewhat unique situation

Our organization is being acquired by a bigger organization.

This was a gesture at maintaining our identity within the greater organization.

There was nothing more given to the higher wage staff.

It was just a nice gesture. In fact my boss thought of it because he has one he received from a board he served on and he and his wife always banter about who will get to wear it because it's so nice and so comfortable.

[enigmatic]

14. Cool; I think it was a nice gesture...

I really, really wish that some people would remove the sequoia from their posteriors on recieving gifts from whatever they consider "The Man"; if it offends you, don't wear it, but if the company is shelling out money to give this to you at least have the class to accept it in the spirit it was given...

[auntAgonist]

16. yup, my sentiments exactly.

just have some class, say thanks, take it home and do whatever with it. Donate to goodwill if you must.

[mondo joe]

20. Response to your edit: NO ONE has complained about the logo

"Additional on edit: a simple solution could have been to give them the apparel sans the corporate logo."

NO ONE has complained about the logo. They LIKE the logo. We're a non profit - it's like a club. It's OUR logo.

But after a lot of effort to get the best product we could find, there have been these snipey complaints about the color, about this, about that.

Honestly, if it weren't for the temps who were so happy to be included I'd be fuming right now.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. That was so nice of you to include the temp employees.

In 2000 I was working as a temp and the company I was working at Christmas included me as well. I got a beautiful sweater with their company logo on it that I still wear to this day. Actually, I would have loved to have been hired permanently by them. They were a great company to work for and treated all their employees very well.

[mondo joe]

19. Thanks! I was so surprised that they even asked if they were included.

Thanks! I was so surprised that they even asked if they were included. I just walked them over to the sign-up list to show them they were always included. I didn't want them to think it was only because they asked.

[Cadence]

8. That is so true..

I used to work for a large company and the people that were actually employees versus contractors had a disgusting air of entitlement...whereas the contractors would be actually legitimately grateful if they were invited to the pizza parties etc.

There was this weird class structure within the building that I could never get used to. Blech.

[Starlight]

9. **raising hand** I guess you'll have to include me in that count.

I don't consider logo apparel to be a "gift." It's an advertisement for the company. And, no, I wouldn't be grateful to receive it and I wouldn't wear it unless it was a required work uniform.

[stopbush]

17. I agree (see post #5 above).

But what do we expect in America where people shell out billions of dollars a year to purchase "branded" merchandise, turning themselves into walking advertisements for Coca Cola or the NFL, for instance? Come to Vegas where we have a huge store next to the MGM Grand that sells almost anything you could want with the Coke logo!

I think a nicer "gift" for the employees who are germane to this thread would have been contracts that guaranteed them they wouldn't be fired next year after being absorbed by a bigger entity.

BTW - I currently work in non-profit, so I understand how many of these gestures are sort of normal. Coming from the corporate world, I don't see such gifts as gifts. Maybe that's a prejudice I need to work on...

[mondo joe]

18. In fact none of them WILL be fired because of the acquisition

And our boss worked very hard to make sure that would happen.

Honestly, the guy really likes this jacket thing and thought it would be nice. He's the nicest guy I've ever worked with.

NO ONE has complained about the logo.

But there have been plenty of complaints about the details.

[Starlight]

26. An appropriate gift from an employer: cash or time off.

Maybe a gift certificate, but even that is iffy. For instance, a coworker of mine received a $50 Starbucks certificate from his boss. He doesn't drink coffee and never goes to coffee shops. He was very disappointed It was worthless to him. He traded it to me for a stupid sports video I received. I was thrilled since I was planning to put the video in the trash. :)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

21. You can't make ALL the people happy ALL the time

I make t-shirts or golf shirts for a particular event for my company every year. Most people enjoy them immensely but there's ALWAYS a few that bitch and moan ..my response.."if you dont like it, feel free to return it to us."

[mondo joe]

22. This is why I refuse to be involved in organizing work sponsored parties

"I can't believe they're not having wine or beer."

"I can't believe they're serving wine and beer. It's very anti-social."

"I'm offended that they are catering food into the workplace."

"I'm offended that we're supposed to GO somewhere."

[enigmatic]

23. Screw 'em; some will never be happy....

Don't worry about them; they aren't worth it..

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. yep...true dat

we do all of that by committee so there is no one person taking all the gaffe

[Starlight]

25. LOL, I feel the same way about work sponsored parties.

They aren't parties. They're work. I'd much prefer Taco Bell with friends/family over $150 per plate dinner with coworkers. Heck, I'd prefer a cheese sandwich at home alone in front of the tv!

[Bunny]

27. Same type of thing happens where I work.

For several years, we'd give turkeys to our employees for Christmas. We're a non-profit, too, a turkey was about all we could offer.

After a few years, some people asked to have a ham instead. The agency agreed to offer a choice of ham or turkey. I prefer ham myself, so this was a good thing.

Well, ham costs more than turkey, so we had to increase the size of the turkeys we gave away, so that the cost of the turkey was about the same as the cost of the ham.

Bigger turkey should be a good thing, right? No sirree, Bob! Seems the bigger turkeys were TOO big! They wouldn't fit into the turkey deep fryer! :eyes:

Bitch, bitch, bitch. You can't please everyone. Let those who don't like their jacket donate it to Goodwill, or something. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try being nice.