This is something that really bugs me sometimes (usually lunch time). When I’m ready to go for lunch, everybody starts throwing me twentys and writing up a second constitution with amendments as to what they would like for lunch. Look, I’m not your daddy, get lunch for yourself. Just because I’m going to the same place you are, doesn’t mean I should have to pick up food for you. Breaking twentys and making change is for banks, not me. Then it’s a big deal because everyone is undecided as what they want. The best solution i’ve had so far is when they ask what’s for lunch, I just say, “i’m not hungry and am going out later.” But sometimes I want my lunch now dammit! But some people I think get offended when they’re not included in “getting lunch”.
I don’t know what the big deal is about group buying, but leave me out of it. And don’t get mad if I ever go out and don’t say anything and be like, “You get us anything?” All sarcastic like. No f*cker, I’m not your daddy, feed your own self.
I cannot be the only one who feels this way. Anyone else got any ideas for discouraging group buying?
Somehow you’ve fallen into the role of office lunch-delivery-person. You could get out of it just by refusing to get stuff for other people, that probably won’t make you popular.
You could try setting up a rotation, then you’d only have to get stuff for everyone every now and then, and also, most of the time someone would be getting yours.
Or, you could try this: Go with it for a while. Wander around, asking people if they’d like something from X place, get orders, etc. When they’ve gotten used to you polling for orders, you phase it out. Start just leaving. They won’t know you’ve gone until too late. Also, start making X progressively less mainstream. Everyone can find something to order from Wendy’s, but how many will go for something from Bucky’s Cajun deli and bait shop?
If it was me, I wouldn’t mind bringing back food for other people sometimes, as long as it was reciprocated equally. If a coworker asked me to bring them back something, and I got lunch last time, I would respond with, “Oh you’re getting food from there too? That’s great – how about you go this time, and bring me back an X, since I went last time? Here’s a $20.” If they refuse, you have ammunition to tease them with if they complain in the future.
If you absolutely never want to get food for other people, just start going without telling people you’re leaving. If they say anything, explain that getting food for one other person inevitably leads to getting food for ten people who all pay with twenties, and it ends up being a major task in place of grabbing a quick bite. They’ll get over it.
Get your own order separate, then get all the others in one big order, make a few mistakes, toss all the change in one of the bags, you will get a reputation as a pretty unreliable lunch-go- getter.
Are you typically getting your lunch and bringing it back to work to eat? If so, stop. Don’t announce when you leave, and just come back empty-handed an hour later. If anybody asks, say you had some things to take care of, you had to run to the store, whatever. I wouldn’t want someone to get me lunch then leave it in the car while they shopped, so I’d have no problem with them not asking. (Actually, I have no problem with anybody not asking for any reason. I don’t expect other people to pick up my lunch for me, I can get it myself, thank you, I’m not that lazy.)
Or start announcing that your services will cost $1 per person to get lunch. This may “outrage” some, but in actuality seems perfectly fair to me - it would be worth the convenience for me - I’d pay it. You’re the one taking all the orders, waiting in line, carrying all the orders (including drinks) through the building back to them, using your gas in the car, figuring out the change, etc. This would do three things - make you a little profit, potentially reduce the number of people who ask, and potentially encourage someone else to make the “chow run” once in a while.
I never had this problem because I never got into that kind of situation to begin with, anywhere, ever. My lunch hour is my own time. I bring my lunch to work and eat it by myself while reading a book.
However, if you’re already stuck being known as the “food delivery service” and want to get out of it “diplomatically,” I advise that you simply start bringing your own lunch. That way when someone says, “Where are you going for lunch?” (translation: “Can you pick me up something?”), you can truthfully say, “I brought my lunch in today.” This solves more problems than the ones of being “food bringer” or worrying about how to get out of it without alienating your colleagues.
(1) You’re not going to offend people by letting them think you’re buying your own lunch while being unwilling to pick up lunch for them.
(2) You save time: I’ve noticed that people who go out to pick up their lunches have to waste the time driving to wherever-it-is, then standing in line, ordering and paying, then getting back to the workplace to eat, even when all they’re getting is their own food.
(3) You save money. It’s cheaper to bring your own lunch than it is to buy it.
Even if you start bringing your lunch, there’s no reason you can’t EAT with your coworkers if you still want to do that. You could invite them to eat with you when they come back from wherever with their lunches, or accept their invitations. But in any case, they’ll have to start buying or bringing their own lunches.
I guess that usually people would combine their order and get something from a place that actually delivers food. Or everyone would go out and sit down somewhere to eat. Just having one person repeatedly drive around and pick up lunch for everyone definitely sounds wrong (I’d vote for the suggested rotation, so that it’s always a different person).
