# Birthdays at work - How do you celebrate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887 "2004-12-20T23:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/1 "2004-12-20T23:59:13Z")
I’ve worked with the same group (more or less) for the past 7 years. It’s a great group and we’ve developed a number of traditions, common vocabulary, catch phrases, inside jokes, etc. When we started out, we would do cake every month for whoever was having a birthday (we have at least one birthday per month). At some point, we went to doing lunches. We’ve become experts at going out with large groups (15-20). It’s been a lot of fun, but during the last few months, attendance has dropped quite a bit. I think some of it is boredom, but mostly it’s because several people are on diets and/or work out during lunch. So…I’d like to find something new for us to do. What do you do? Do you celebrate at all? GT ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/2 "2004-12-21T00:50:57Z")
Nothing very fancy. Usually we just get a cake when there’s a birthday and have it at morning tea. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/3 "2004-12-21T00:56:31Z")
Meh. I barely celebrate my birthday at _home_. The event would be lucky to even get a passing mention at work. On your birthday you are only a day older than you were yesterday. Which reminds me… when I was a kid I used to believe that the night before a birthday we grow a full inch taller, and that we don’t grow at all on any normal day. I really truly believed that. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/4 "2004-12-21T01:41:19Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Meh. I barely celebrate my birthday at _home_. Me too, actually. In reality, there’s not a lot of focus on the birthday person; it’s more of an excuse to do something as a group that’s not work. > [@](#): > > Which reminds me… when I was a kid I used to believe that the night before a birthday we grow a full inch taller, and that we don’t grow at all on any normal day. I really truly believed that. :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/5 "2004-12-21T01:45:19Z")
I worked it out that I was born on a holiday, so I never have to deal with working on my birthday. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birthdays-at-work-how-do-you-celebrate/280887/6 "2004-12-21T01:57:47Z")
There’s a group of us (a couple small departments) that get together for every birthday (averaging once a month). It’s often during lunch (but not always), and there’s always cake, ice cream, and some general gifting. The only exception is my birthday, which I don’t like having celebrated, much to my colleagues’ chagrin. So they don’t know when it is, though I made one small concession: if they ask me if it’s my birthday on that exact day, I won’t lie. I’ll answer honestly. Otherwise, I won’t divulge any information. 4 years and they still haven’t gotten it (though the likelihood of my birthday coinciding with someone else’s is a bit low).