# Bringing Store Brand Chips to Office Potluck, am I a jerk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2021, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525 "2021-12-23T07:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/121 "2021-12-24T17:39:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > True, but it ain’t as good. And did the OP buy any? That might be true if you’re buying the cheapest pre-made dip. I’ve had refrigerated dips that were better than the soup mix kind, and they have a lot less sodium. How is that any worse than making dip with dehydrated soup mix? I don’t see how it’s relevant whether the OP bought any onion dip. He doesn’t have to buy a matching dip for every kind of chip he bought. Normal, well-adjusted people can eat naked chips. Dip is a luxury item. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/122 "2021-12-24T17:55:09Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I’ve had refrigerated dips that were better than the soup mix kind, and they have a lot less sodium. Got any brand names? I don’t know as I’ve ever found any store-bought dip to rise above ‘meh’. I’m not being snarky; I’d seriously like recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/123 "2021-12-24T18:00:39Z")
He was supposed to buy “chips and dips” but apparently bought dips only for corn chips. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/124 "2021-12-24T18:51:47Z")
Why do you think your choices may come off as jerkish? You didn’t skimp on quantity, id say aye on chip quality NTL no worries there as everyone knows potluck dishes are made with the cheapest off brand ingredients. The meatballs in a sweet sour sauce look yummy but beware of Prepackaged frozen tvp meatblend, sodium ladened convenience mixes, those awful mini wieners in bbq sauce, mayo heavy carb concoctions, sliced bologna and ppcheese cubes. I’d say no one is going for glory in their PL dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/125 "2021-12-24T19:46:37Z")
Whoa dude. Don’t be talking smack about lil smokies. Thems fight’n words! ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/126 "2021-12-24T20:00:28Z")
Well I’m automatically not the worst person at the potluck, the guy assigned to bring pizza brought a single medium pizza hut pizza. He couldn’t even spring for a large! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/127 "2021-12-24T22:13:32Z")
Jerks do not bring anything to potlucks since their radiant, fulsome company is sufficient reward. Only a jerk would get high-horsey about brand if they taste decent. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/128 "2021-12-24T22:30:21Z")
“If they taste decent” is the rub in this thread, with some insisting there is little difference between items, some suggesting others are besotted by price tags and branding, etc. I’m wondering if there is a gender dimension to this, with a lot of cis-gendered men eager to avoid the work to make the potluck food interesting. My workplace is about evenly split gender wise and women usually bring much more interesting food, whether homemade or purchased. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/129 "2021-12-24T22:46:07Z")
Maybe it’s for the best he didn’t bring enough for everyone. Only pleebs eat Pizza Hut; with any luck they’d make it disappear before the no-wine-under-$20 crowd showed up. /s ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/130 "2021-12-24T23:08:57Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Anyone who looks sideways at either your chips or your dips had better not dip _one_ motherfucking chip. Don’t worry - life’s too short to eat crappy chips. Nobody gets "assigned"anything at our pot luck. You sign up for what you can or want to bring. If all you can do is sodas and plates, that’s fine. But if you bring generic “cola”, woe be unto you! ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/131 "2021-12-24T23:35:15Z")
Seriously, I like the Walmart branded chips more than most of the designer brands. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/132 "2021-12-24T23:38:09Z")
So that was a bust and not on my end. Bought 6 bags of chips, people only opened two bags and two of the salsa jars. But it was mainly because they had my chips in a completely different area away from the rest of the food, the chips were with the drinks a good 40 feet away from the buffet tables. So people loaded up on the buffet food and only got the chips at the VERY end. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/133 "2021-12-24T23:59:10Z")
The secret is to bring containers so people don’t even know the brand. During Covid the whole idea of potlucks is a little more questionable anyway, and individual portions of something might have been better? Some store brands rock. Some taste like socks. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/134 "2021-12-25T00:05:03Z")
Username/post combo! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/135 "2021-12-25T18:04:23Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I’ve never been to a pot-luck style meal where people were assigned dishes. Isn’t that what the “luck” is about? Everyone being surprised about how the meal comes together? I’ve never been to one where people were assigned dishes - but I’ve also never been to one where people are surprised at how “the meal comes together” . It’s always been that people signed up to bring either a particular item ( say a ham or mac ‘n’ cheese) or a category (side dish, dessert, main dish) - otherwise, you might end up with no one bringing a main dish or no one bringing the paper goods and so on. Not much of a celebration if all you have are chips and cake without any plates or forks. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/136 "2021-12-25T18:11:57Z")
I realize you are throwing a lump of horse poop in the punchbowl here, to get a reaction. But…la di da, Princess, do you check under your mattress for a pea every night? 🙄…I hate office potlucks. I don’t like ‘other people’s food’. I worked in a place where one of my tragically undomesticated co-workers brought in the most disgusting looking dessert. It looked like the leavings of a Great Dane, seriously. She said, ‘well, it doesn’t look good, but it tastes fine!’. (after that, when asked what she wanted to contribute, she wised up and offered to stay and clean up the whole place )…no, I will take Walmart chips and dip in a heartbeat. And I guarantee that bowl of Walmart chips and the dip will be empty but for a few crumbs and a smear by the end of the party. (What did I bring, you ask? A big tray of Stouffers lasagna, sturdy disposable plates, and plastic forks and napkins.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/137 "2021-12-27T01:03:33Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > > > ignore this, look upon it as an edible Rorschach test. Those people who interpret your gesture in this way are exactly those that deserve to feel that they’ve been slighted somehow and you could certainly question if a relationship with such a person has any value. > > So, question to the OP: did you actually put forth any effort at all? Your post says: > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > I wasn’t willing to make anything myself > > So maybe that’s inability, maybe it’s disinterestedness, or maybe it’s just laziness. None are appealing qualities, but they’re human fallacies that everyone experiences. The usual way around those fallacies is to buy your way around them - to pay someone else to put forth the effort you’re unwilling to provide. Or, if you can’t, then you decline to attend the gathering, and don’t cheapskate on your colleagues. > > The way I read your OP, you couldn’t be bothered to cook something, and when given a non-cooking option, chose to deliver that option in a cheap way. Did most of your colleagues deliver low-effort, cheap dishes? Novelty\_Bobble seems to believe that as long as you’ve made a minimal effort, that’s sufficient and no one should expect more. The thing is, if everyone makes a minimal effort, you’re going to have a pretty lousy potluck or whatever else collaborative enterprise you’re trying to accomplish. Good Lord, your first response was serious. 😲 As for me, I feel grateful that where I work, they tend to schedule these types of things on my days off. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/138 "2021-12-27T02:09:54Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > > [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > > > when the standard should be at a minimum of £10 > > Because that’s what you do? There’s nothing wrong with a six-dollar bottle of Barefoot Moscato, and that’s about £5. We drink it (we doesn’t include me anymore, though, since I gave up wine), and we serve it to our guests. Everybody loves it. I shudder to think what’s going to happen if he ever finds out about Two-Buck Chuck. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/139 "2021-12-27T02:18:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I shudder to think what’s going to happen if he ever finds out about Two-Buck Chuck.  Has anybody brought up boxed wines yet? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525/140 "2021-12-27T03:41:15Z")
> [@tricoteuse](#): > > I’d like to interrupt this thread for the greatest office potluck story of all time, the Insulted by Cheap Ass Rolls! (#2 in the article). The comments are hilarous Damn you! Ninja’d. There is a really interesting and hilarious update as well, from a co-worker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-store-brand-chips-to-office-potluck-am-i-a-jerk/956525.md?page=8)