Office Dilemna (warning-this is long)

[oblongmelon]

Ok so today we have our office Christmas party..
here's the problem. My boss-the freakishly Mormon guy set the rules up for our secret santas about a month or so ago..(ok besides being mormon,he's a total fem, married-but acts flamingly queer-keep this in mind for later in the post)..he set a limit at 100 dollars MAX because last year some gifts got TOTALLY out of hand (one of the guys gave his secret santa a two day skiing pass that totaled out at around 400 bucks (that included room/board/rental/dinner/lift tickets etc).....ok..so here's what happened..

We get to the party-which we had upstairs in one of the board rooms-we all chipped in for the food which was supposed to be poached salmon,prime rib,or some funky kind of tropical stuffed chicken breast,snacks,and all the fixins..the seafood bar (chilled shrimp,oysters,clams on the half shell,sushi was supposed to be available for the first hour...according the the person in charge of food-everything was all set for today..because of religious differences within the staff-there was not going to be any alcohol.

we payed for a DJ for 3 hours, and a party planner to come in and do the decorations etc..was SUPPOSED TO BE A NICE EVENT..
anyway..so we are all standing around waiting for the cold seafood-when the caterer comes out and tells us that his shipment of shrimp still hadn't arrived-grrr-and that he would put it out as soon as it gets there..those wanting oysters(puke) and clams could help themselves..(that was only the fat guy from payroll, and two of the old retirees that come back for the event..well we are standing around, shooting the sh|t with each other-when the caterer says..ladies and gents-dinner is now being served (we had to write our menu choice on cards and leave them at our places-)
so we sit down to dinner-the waiter comes out and brings BBQ chicken,sausage and peppers, and Prime Rib FAMILY STYLE on platters and slaps it down on the table.....Where's the salmon we ask-and what is with the BBQ?????...caterer gives us the explanation that the caribean chicken was not available and that this was the sub, and that the sausage and peppers is to cover the Salmon that has not arrived with the shrimp order..GRRRRRR AGAIN..of course by now everyone is bitching..and HUNGry..we all complain to the woman who organized the party-and inquired as to what the hell was up with this caterer-and get this..she says..WELL THE CATERER WE WANTED WASN'T AVAILABLE..so my SISTER IN LAW DECIDED to help out by cooking the food...and the guy who was "acting caterer" was her brother!.OMG I WAS SO PISSED. As was everyone else,we all demanded our money back as we each kicked in 35 dollars for the dinners which was to include the unlimited BIG SHRIMP along with our meal and the other trimmings and snacks..this woman says..WELL I ALREADY PAID JANET (her sister in law) for cooking, and I'm not asking her for the money..and she "hmph-ed" off..
Now the best part..everyone is doing the secret santa exchange-and they get to the person that my boss had..she opens up the box and finds a TREASURE TROVE of antique german ornaments-each one carefully hand wrapped in tissue paper..there had to be at LEAST a dozen or more..and we aren't talking about cheap broken ornaments-this guy MUST HAVE EASILY spent 500 bucks on these things-he says..I couldn't resist because I know you love christmas (ok I was jealous-and I NEEDED THOSE ORNAMENTS FOR MY COLLECTION-double grrr grrrr)..I was like HEY I thought you set a LIMIT this year-and he says..well, I know that Carey LOVES SANTAS and when I saw these at the antique mall I just HAD to get them (this woman is his OFFICE PET)..I gave my secret santa a basket full of aroma therapy candles,air fragrances,bath and body oils,and included 4 one hour sessions with a massage therapist (A good friend who traded me the gift cards for a very very large try of cookies for her office)..I also included a nice fleece blanket. Total cost-around 80 bucks. Everyone is opening gifts that fell into the same category as mine..and everyone is THRILLED with their gifts..
Now the very worst part-my boss-the freakisly femmy mormon guy gets handed his gift bag-and inside he finds....3 MENS WHITE HANKERCHIEFS!
WITH THE PRICETAG STILL stuck on the inside of the box..(15 dollars)-AND IT WAS FROM THE WOMAN HE SPENT ALL THE BUCKS ON..he looks at her and says..OH, how nice. And turns around and walks away-goes to his office and proceeds to have a crying jag worse than any woman i've ever seen....Man it was awful-the guy isn't the coolest guy around, nor does he have a ton of friends in the office because after all he is our boss, but HANKIES? omg..after he walked out of the room we all ganged up on this woman and had the biggest bitch session she would ever encounter-we reminded her that when the county layoffs came around-he saved her ass bigtime saying she was "crucial personel"..(HA)..and this big ass gift he gives her and all she can buy him is HANKIES...her reply..Oh, I didn't buy them, my dad gave them to me because I spent all of my last paycheck at the TANNING SALON!(which btw is HIDEOUSLY BROWN)..someone suggested that she offer to give him back the ornaments-and she said NO WAY..she was going to see if she could put them on EBAY and make some money off of them..
The Dilemna now stands at this..do the rest of us-pitch in and get our boss a halfway decent gift(he likes opera so we thought about a pass for him and his wife at the local opera house)to appease the situation-or do we just let things fester in the office now that he was slighted big time..and when is the appropriate time to kick the crap out of miss Miami? Thanks-

[LPMiller]

kicking the crap out of miss Miami should happen frequently and often. OMG.

I think the chipping in is a nice idea, and go ahead and do that, though I have to wonder why he was crying. He may be femmy, but I wonder if he has a crush on Ms. Thing.

Is this the same guy that loves Star Trek?

[Nanotech9]

if you and most of the rest of the office likes your boss, then get him a gift. Its the nice thing to do...

personally, i'm wondering if this guy is trying to start an affair with the chick (is she good looking or something?) Either way, if hes a good boss, then get him something.

[TofuNinja]

Here are the facts that I see

The party was less than stellar and everyone was out $35 bucks
Mr. Boss Man gives Office pet expansive gift
Office Pet gives Boss Man hankies.
Boss Man cries
Office Pet is horrid.
In the past Boss Man saved Office Pet's worthless job
Office Pet is very ungrateful and tanned.

On one hand he did set a limit
On the other hand he saved her job and she could have gotten him something better.

I agree with the others if you all like you boss get him something nice and show him that at least the rest of you think he can be a good boss or that he is a nice person.

Boss Man was a victum of his own generousity. Office Pet is just damn greedy. Let's see her on Joe Millionaire.

It is strange now, because your boss has put himself in an odd corner... when the next layoffs come around and Office Pet gets laid off... she will most likely sue him or something saying that he is getting revenge for the cheap gifts or make up (or not) some sexual harrassment story...... You should beat unnaturally tanned Office Pet silly.

[oblongmelon]

Originally posted by Nanotech9
if you and most of the rest of the office likes your boss, then get him a gift. Its the nice thing to do...

personally, i'm wondering if this guy is trying to start an affair with the chick (is she good looking or something?) Either way, if hes a good boss, then get him something.

NO they are DEFINATELY NOT having a "thing"...she has a very wealthy italian boyfriend..

[dbax791]

Yikes! That sounds more like a dysfunctional family than an "office" :P

Personally, I wouldn't give the boss anything. He broke the party rules, and also you already spent too much money on crummy food. But I don't know how the "office politics" work. If getting the boss something will score y'all brownie points then maybe.

No XMAS party here this year - all "non-essential" spending is nixed until the economy turns around.

[oblongmelon]

Check your PM -DF..
we amish fashion models are quite private people :)

[Kim]

Wow, I hope she has a plan for after the next round of layoffs. What a..dare I say...LOSER!

[kimchicowboy]

chip in for a gift for him and remind him it's from you guys and let the wound from the other woman fester.

[mcs328]

Damn...what the hell do you do for a living? We had our "White Elephant" christmas gift exchange. Our limit was $10 bucks. We find silly gifts to exchange. Some loser thought it was funny to wrap his in notebook paper. His gift...a toilet brush.

Anyway...bye bye Miss Thang!! Yah chip in for the dude(ette). He deserves it.

[johnnymk]

Get the hankies back from the boss, blow your noses into them and give them back to her. Tell her they were the wrong color and ask if they can be returned.

[oblongmelon]

Originally posted by mcs328
Damn...what the hell do you do for a living? We had our "White Elephant" christmas gift exchange. Our limit was $10 bucks. We find silly gifts to exchange. Some loser thought it was funny to wrap his in notebook paper. His gift...a toilet brush.

Anyway...bye bye Miss Thang!! Yah chip in for the dude(ette). He deserves it.

um..If I told you I'd have to kill you.

[gear02]

Is the person who got their sister-in-law to do the cooking the same person that gave hankies to your boss?

This drama is better than most TV shows on tv :D no offense obby.

Btw how many of you guys here would give hankies to your boss?? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Thanks for the great story. I couldn't have made up anything that good! :D

Anyway, I'd chip in for a decent gift for the boss. (Well, I don't mean *I* would, after all I don't even know him - I mean I think y'all should chip in.)

$100 for office gifts, plus kicking in $35 for the party food? Weird... Every place I've worked has had a $10-$20 limit.

If she eBay's the ornaments, everyone in the office should sign up for fake eBay accounts and bid the stuff up into the stratosphere, then ignore her emails to pay...

[gear02]

Originally posted by kb0wwp
If she eBay's the ornaments, everyone in the office should sign up for fake eBay accounts and bid the stuff up into the stratosphere, then ignore her emails to pay...

That's a brilliant idea actually. She deserves it. :)

[attgig]

Originally posted by mcs328
Damn...what the hell do you do for a living?

Don't you know? she's a soccer coach for the peewee girls league. There's a lotta money to be made in those corporate sponsors... the boss being a 'bud seilig' of soccer, is VERY fruity, and the other coaches...grrrrr.

[whitak24]

i'm with everyone else....

$100 for office gifts :eek: man, i probably will hardly spend the much for everyone on my list this year (last year, when i was still "rollin' in dough", i only spent ~$300 or $350)

but anyway, that whole story is just sad.

first, the extremely crappy party, then the hankerchiefs :2far: where do you find these people obby?

[blueindian]

i wouldn't get the boss anything...but if it were me i'd have a conversation with him about it. just to shoot the ****, and see what he thought. might buy him a beer, if he'd ever go out with us.

for out office party, we bought each other toys. they toy had to have a reason...like someone got me a mr. and mrs. potato head set because i'm getting married. then, we donated the toys to toys for tots or something.

except one guy bought another dude a baskeetball goal set from nerf. we kept that.

ooops...gotta run, it's my turn :)

[cheapie]

i'm not sure what i'd be the most pissed about, the food or the f'ing tan lady. i take my grub very seriously. i would most likely get him a gift to show that he is appreciated. then have a card and let everyone sign it but the beyotch. that way he knows what's up. also, if she puts the stuff on ebay, make sure mormonsissy gets the link. lol. also, a $100 limit??? holy cow! i don't spend that much on myself!

[ufcrusher]

Well depending on how many people are in the office, it might only be a few bucks each to get him a present that he would actually appreciate. So I guess, it all comes down to how much you all like your boss.

I would probably not give anything, because I would feel like he got what he deserved. I mean, hell he blows the limit by 5 times (if he actually paid that....I know a lot of people who get things like waterford crystal for next to nothing when the item sells in Macys for a ton. Example: I picked up a two tier platter for $80 while it was selling at Macys for $250) So it is possible that he found them at some great discount.

As for the food, I would raise holy hell. I mean, come on you paid for a caterer...not someone's sister in law. Now, if her sister in law is actually a caterer, then you cant really complain, but from the way it sounds, she wasnt. I think your boss should be the one to demand the money back for the office...or at least a portion of it.

[blueindian]

yall should all chip in and buy the ornaments back off ebay. then give them to him. somehow let him know how you got them.

i can't beleive the guy was crying. what a sis.

[Grimm]

Definately give him a card. Thank him for all his efforts arranging the party and let him know how much the office appriciates it (minus ms. tanned hankerchief lady), even if someone's greed went and tried to spoil the whole thing. A gift would be a great idea. But it would have to be well thought out, it needs to be something sentimental.

From now on you should call the thoughtless b17ch who spoiled everything "Ms. Grinch".

If the person who got hurt wasn't the boss, how would you deal with it? You should treat your boss the same as everyone else in this regard.

How about giving him a nice silk shirt, wit ha matching monogramed silk hankerchief?

[Grimm]

Originally posted by blueindian
yall should all chip in and buy the ornaments back off ebay. then give them to him. somehow let him know how you got them.
...
:stupid:

[CornMonkey]

yeah...do all of the above.



then kick her...on the shin.

[attgig]

Originally posted by CornMonkey
yeah...do all of the above.



then kick her...on the shin.


what, no jimmy? :umm:

anyways...yeah, get him a card, minus the grinch girl and the expert chef's sister...

she's a friggin theif prolly cost them like 100 bucks for the whole dinner, and charged what, 35 bucks from each of you guys????
PSH!
I've done large dinners before for 10-15 dollars, and the most i ever had to collect was around 10 bucks - steaks for everyone.
:shrug:

[Grimm]

Originally posted by attgig



what, no jimmy? :umm:

:spock: Uhhhh.... attgig, women don't have jimmys... at least not the ones I date. You might want to be a bit more discriminating when you pick up strange women. :P

[molecularfire]

Ok, first of all, I would get the boss a new gift because from the way it sounds, other than the sissy part, he seems like a nice person. When it comes down to it... decide whether you guys WANT to get him a gift or not. I wouldn't do it out of a sense of obligation, that's not the point. As for the argument about him spending too much money, it doesn't matter if he had spent just $100. SHE STILL ONLY SPENT 15 DOLLARS (heck, she didn't even spend that much). Now the crying part, I don't understand... but heck, I haven't cried since the doctor held me upside down and slapped my rear. As for the food, I would beat the cr@p out of that b!t@h. Food is a serious thing for me... and teases will NOT be tolerated. :angry:

[pagemap]

It seems like your office is entirely too uptight. So what if you get her sister cooking, were YOU the one organizing? No, so unless you were in charge of organizing the function you have no reason to bitch. She couldn't get a caterer, so she did the next best thing and had someone else cook. Would you rather have some food or no food at all?

Also, the lady did give her boss a ****ty gift but come on, does the whole office really need to gang up on here? Arent some things better left unsaid?

[x1337xD335C1P13x]

You should get the lousy head of the party to get the boss a $1000 gift!

[WhiskeyPapa]

Originally posted by pagemap
She couldn't get a caterer, so she did the next best thing and had someone else cook. Would you rather have some food or no food at all?
But they paid for a nice, reputable caterer. Someone's sister cooking is not the same as a caterer. Now, if the lady-in-charge would have said up-front "I couldn't get a caterer, but my brother and sister-in-law are covering the food. Here's HALF YOUR MONEY BACK..."

You don't pay your own sister-in-law top caterer rates!

[mcs328]

Originally posted by pagemap
It seems like your office is entirely too uptight. So what if you get her sister cooking, were YOU the one organizing? No, so unless you were in charge of organizing the function you have no reason to bitch. She couldn't get a caterer, so she did the next best thing and had someone else cook. Would you rather have some food or no food at all?

Also, the lady did give her boss a ****ty gift but come on, does the whole office really need to gang up on here? Arent some things better left unsaid?

I rather save my $35 and get pizza. I paid for a meal with the understanding that I would get a caterer not someone sister to cook up a home made meal. I wouldn't appreciate the choice of beggars can't be choosers in this case.

[molecularfire]

Originally posted by pagemap
It seems like your office is entirely too uptight. So what if you get her sister cooking, were YOU the one organizing? No, so unless you were in charge of organizing the function you have no reason to bitch. She couldn't get a caterer, so she did the next best thing and had someone else cook. Would you rather have some food or no food at all?

Also, the lady did give her boss a ****ty gift but come on, does the whole office really need to gang up on here? Arent some things better left unsaid?

First of all, I do kinda agree with you about the lady with the gift. If she's that type of person, then she's that type of person. I don't expect people to change.

Secondly, am I the only one here who thinks that the couldn't get a caterer story sounds a little too convenient. First of all, even if they couldn't get the exact caterer, they should've been able to get someone. Secondly, even if they couldn't get anyone, they should've been able to get the food that was agreed upon. Isn't it odd that the stuff that didn't arrive was the expensive to buy stuff? Salmon is around $6.99/lb and shrimps prices vary on the type of shrimps, but if your getting shrimps of any decent size start at around 3.99/lb (and can go to a LOT more) whereas ribs is around $1.99/lb., chicken depends on part but either ways is less than $2.00/lb, and sausages and bell peppers effectively cost nothing. Didn't they lie originally when they said that the shrimp and salmon hadn't arrived when it was pretty obvious that they weren't expecting it to arrive? A catering service might have a bunch of ribs lying around, but I doubt that someone's sister in law would. As for the sushi, even if they couldn't make them, they could've found a place that they could've ordered them from. Now, the carribean chicken, that I could understand. Maybe they couldn't make them and didn't know of a place where they could get them, but the rest make no sense at all. Also, how many people here if they were in her place would reset the arrangements like that without telling anybody? Personally, I think you guys got taken.

[oblongmelon]

UPDATE
So here is what happened since the party..Since the damn thing was such a joke, and everyone was complaining, we decided to call an impromptu meeting with the woman who "arranged" (or not) the caterer..we DEMANDED TO SEE bills from the purchase of the food/supplies/dj/etc..but before we did that-we asked her for an explanation of what happened to the REAL food we were supposed to have..and why we didnt have a REAL caterer...her explanation was this.."every year you people plan this party and spend tons of money on things that no one really likes (meaning her and her distaste for seafood and tacky christmas decorations apparently)..I tried to get the caterer that we use for our budget meetings, but he wasn't available because I waited to close to christmas to reserve him..I called 4 other people and they were booked up..My sister in law offered to cook the food, because she cooks at her church hall all the time, and there was NOTHING WRONG with the food we had..you people are just pissed because you didnt get what you want!"..well,needless to say, that ensued the riot that would last for the past two days..we DEMANDED TO SEE THE RECIEPTS that she got from everything she bought-and she said she would have to "look" for them..the "higer ups" gave her one day to find them,bring them in and present them to the staff..also, she needed to bring in a bill of service for whatever work was done by her sister in law for services rendered. Today was the day she was to have them in..in our corporate council meeting this morning, the girl who recieved the ornaments from my boss brought them back in, and said.."thank you so much for the thoughtful gift..but I can't accept them. I would appreciate it if you would find a good home for them."..(I"m sure this was because everyone was on her ass for being a skeevy bitch) and proceeded to return them before she plopped her arse down in the seat with a nasty look on her face (we also think her boytoy made her give them back)..Then the one who planned the thing showed up and said..I don't have all the receipts-only the ones for the some of the supplies, and for services charge for the work done..the other receipts must have been tossed away..she handed receipts to the higher ups who took one look at them and said NICE TRY..and tossed them back at her..THEY WERE FROM LAST NIGHT! FROM SAMS CLUB..she tried to scam everyone by going to sams and buying a whole lot of stuff and pawn it off saying it was for our party ..BUSTED!!!!! They immediately removed her from our conference room and took her down to security where they had her most of the day..we saw lots of board members going in and out-but still don't know EXACTLY what was going on..they are all very hush hush..word around the office has it she has 1 week to repay back all the money that was supposed to be for the party, or she will loose her job. I'll keep you posted. ps..my boss decided this afternoon to raffle off the ornaments and split whatever proceeds he gets between the Hospice unit.

[oblongmelon]

sorry that's HOSPICE unit(s) plural.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Wow, Obby, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this saga. I think I've read the original story three times, and now it's just getting better! For some reason we all love to see rude and inconsiderate people get "theirs". Make sure you keep us updated! :thumbup:

[whitak24]

yeah, this is a great story!

especially now that you've busted the "organizer" for trying to scam everyone (that is just low..... :2far: )

[johnnymk]

As usual, truth is stranger than fiction :P

[oblongmelon]

oh and btw-I forgot to tell you what my secret pal gave ME!
I got a Five lb Hershey bar...(diabetic-cool..she's trying to kill me)
and two tickets to the Lowes Cineplex and a juniper lotion/spray gift basket thingy from bath and bodyworks...and a very very very funny x-rated christmas card that had POP UPS and latex involved.. I gave the candy to the girls on my cheerleading squad :)The had fun busting the thing apart last night-I told them to bring a baggie..and I provided a wooden malet thing (meat pounder)whatever they broke off they got to keep.:D

[Grimm]

You should all chip in and get your boss a gift still. Let him know you don't blame him for all this uglieness and show him how much you appriciate him dealing with this problem.

He is probably catching hell for what happened. Unhappy employees make for very unhappy management. I wouldn't wamt to be him right about now.

[gear02]

What exactly do you do obby for a job and how big is your company?

I only ask because my current job is my first foray into corporate america and, well, I like to know about other work places...just bloody curiousity I guess...

[mcs328]

Wow...the organizer has to cough up money OR she's fired? or is it AND she's fired? Damn...this doesn't seem like a Merry Xmas. It would have gone easier if she came clean and said I couldn't get a caterer. Now she's out of money and a job.

As for skank ornament cheapo gal...pretty much even right. He got hankies to cry in and she go nothin'. Problem solved. What a very nice and honorable boy toy she's got there. No nookie for him I guess.

[oblongmelon]

well I'm not sure! like I said before it's the RUMOR..no one really knows for sure what is happening..it's only what we've heard-through the grapevine..but I think it was COUGH UP OR..not cough up AND..I'll let you know..whatever is happening is happening with the admins and higher ups that oversee ALL of us.

[oblongmelon]

Originally posted by DarkFury

I say... "Fire the Bitch". Hell, maybe she can get a job workin' for her "catering sister-in-law". :thumbdown

Bottom line is... it woulda been alright had she offered everyone a partial refund of the "difference" in goin' the BBQ route versus the Seafood route... however everyone realizes that she's pocketin' the extra cash and tryin' to funnel it over to "good ol' sis in law" in order to probably get a cut of it herself.

Personally, I've seen people fired for less... (like stealin' $20 out of the coffee fund) so if you figure that she was gettin' $35 from every person and only spendin' like $10 per person... well, you do the math.

Either way... Ol' girl would be GONE if it were me. :2far:

DF-I've seen people be let go for being caught with facility office supplies in their pockets..we are talking PENS and NOTEPADS..I know you work for the government too so you have an idea of how strict they can be..the union wont defend you if you get pinched for lifting government property..and as we all know..EVERYTHING-every little paper clip,pen,piece of paper in ANY government facility belongs to uncle sam. I believe the terms I heard floating around were "misappropriation of funds","a direct misrepresentation of services" and insubordination..all grapevine stuff but it had to come from somewhere..

[oblongmelon]

Originally posted by whitak24
yeah, this is a great story!

especially now that you've busted the "organizer" for trying to scam everyone (that is just low..... :2far: )
she got HERSELF busted..for being a smart woman she is pretty damn stupid..and let's just say I work with a pretty ballsy crowd..if they pay for shrimp-they WANT to eat shrimp-not get screwed.Government workers are notoriously free with UNCLE SAM'S MONEY-but when it comes to loosing a bit of their own..WATCH OUT!

[oblongmelon]

let's just say..once a month-when corporate compliance comes in to present monthly stats to us-we always do lunch out..we always have a few guys who get very loud and make the entire group of us look like idiots...right now, my area just had a HUGE layoff of about 200 DSS workers-it's kind of hard to justify to the public why the government still keeps dumbass's aboard while letting hard working people hit the skids..so we've limited our "out" time to once every two months-a christmas party with the slightest way of getting alcohol to these morons would have meant armageddon for the rest of us..that's why we chose to "eat IN and Dry"..

[chrissy]

Originally posted by Grimm
You should all chip in and get your boss a gift still. Let him know you don't blame him for all this uglieness and show him how much you appriciate him dealing with this problem.

He is probably catching hell for what happened. Unhappy employees make for very unhappy management. I wouldn't wamt to be him right about now.

I agree with that and it should have been done that way in the first place. I mean, depending on the level of "boss" we are talking about, any negitive reaction in either direction ( the giver or the reciever) would be a bad situation. He could have done cards and GCs for everyone or a generic office gift while everyone pitched in for his. That way no one could cry no foul about that.

Glad to see that the food chick is getting it. :)