I’m SICK of work potlucks. We’ve been stuck with about one of these per month this year.
I work ten hour days. I don’t cook and I don’t like having to stop at the store having to buy shit outside of grocery day. Adding on 20-30 minutes to a long day does not make me an engaged employee. It makes me hate the miserable place even more.
Who the hell needs a damn buffet for lunch? I realize some people love to gorge themselves at lunch, but if I’m going to sit on my ass for ten hours, I don’t want to be full. I’m happy with a 250 calorie microwave meal or a sandwich, I don’t need lasagna AND enchiladas for lunch!
If you want to reward employees, then don’t make them pay for their treat. Don’t reward me with having to spend unpaid time with coworkers, either. Let’s try this: YOU provide the food on COMPANY time.
At the bank where I worked, for Christmas the boss took us, a few at a time, across the street for lunch. The catch was if we went for lunch, we had to give up our paid lunch. The lunch cost less than we’d get for our normal, paid lunch break. I was the only one who didn’t go.
Hear, hear. I’ve liked some co-workers, but most of them were a chore to get along with for the most part. ANY unpaid time that I spend with them should be completely voluntary, without being marked down as “not a team player” if I don’t want to attend the damn softball game or whatever.
Trying to think up a new dish for a variety of people who I don’t know well is not my idea of fun. Cooking that dish is even less fun, especially when I see Joe or Jane from Marketing bring another bowl of JellO as his/her contribution, and then see Jane or Joe heading for the lasagna or fried chicken for the fifth time. If companies want team building activities, then the companies need to fund those activities completely.
Could Miss Manners have a talk with my former boss? This company thought it was a good idea to throw a “party” twice a month. Nobody liked these things. I actually got a stern talking-to for skipping out on a couple.
You could be like the guy I worked with who brought a box of Pop-Tarts to the potlucks. Unless Arby’s was having one of their 5-for-5 deals, in which case he brought roast beef sandwiches. 5 of them.
Ah, the delights of the office group lunch. May I mention the related annoyance of trying to serve oneself ordered-in Chinese food out of a tray-full of the entree with a tiny plastic eating spoon?
And the book I’d have spent the hour reading was so good. What book? Any book–it didn’t matter.
My favourite work lunch story was when I was a temp at a job just before Christmas. They took all the staff and temps out for a nice, long lunch, except for me and a couple of other temps who they considered too new to be taken for lunch. They told us they’d be back at 2:30, and by God, I worked my ass off for those three hours while they were having a party.
I always volunteered to bring pop, utensil , plates and napkins. Until the time time is was ordered to something. Nobody touched it. Being female does not automatically mean I can cook. I was not hired to cook. If I am expected to cook mention it in the damn interview!
I also dislike pot lucks. I don’t like pontset* (I don’t even know how to spell it). I also dislike tamales. Guess what we have, every single time? Pontset and tamales. But mostly, I don’t want to cook and drag all of that to work. I’ll make cookies upon occasion or brownies, but that’s it.
*I do like other Filipino food. I can’t stand 99% of Mexican food.
I was appointed representative of our department to take time out of my busy daily work schedule to attend some Employee Committee Meetings. Where they sat throwing out ideas on fundraising for parties, team-building nonsense, and so on. The previous rep told me, “whatever they do, if they mention potlucks, immediately say you will bring trash bags and do the lunchroom cleanup as our department contribution.” This advice did fly, actually, and I was spared from having to cook something at home to bring in.
Another co-worker wanted to be domestic, failed miserably, and kept bringing in the most gruesome failed cooking experiments you ever saw. Her pumpkin surprise was so ghastly looking that she said when she uncovered it, “don’t pay attention to how it looks, it TASTES OK.”
And finally, another co-worker worked on weekends as a caterer. One might expect something tasty and pretty looking as her potluck contribution. No, she always brought in several boxes of Little Debbie snack cakes! “I just love these things, don’t you?” she would say with a smirk.
A former coworker of mine claims that she was marked down on her annual review for not attending one of the outside-of-work “team building” events we were expected to attend. I love it how they can make it a near requirement by just calling it “team building”, like you’re being disruptive or something by not going bowling.
For potlucks - I’m a vegetarian. I don’t like making a big deal of it, but potlucks kind of force the issue because you’re never sure what someone’s going to put in an otherwise innocuous-looking dish.
Yeah, I avoid pot lucks too. I don’t like the whole forced socializing for one, and for two I don’t eat that much for lunch. A small sandwich and bowl of soup is fine by me. Then I go for a walk.
Thanks for pointing out I forgot another part of my rant. While I don’t take public transit to work, I’d be even more pissed if I was expected to haul a covered dish on a packed bus or or train.
Urban offices don’t do this potluck shit, do they?
I hate potlucks too. I won’t eat at a potluck event anymore after one of my offices had one and the next day 1/3 of the people didn’t come in because they were all suffering from food poisoning. You never know who doesn’t feel the need to wash their hands when preparing food. You never know whose home has a bug infestation. You never know who doesn’t check the expiration date on their food and is serving you a green bean casserole with beans that expired in 1997. I would much rather have everyone chip in $5 and order in pizza or something.
I’m celiac and can’t have bread or flour - so most casseroles, pasta dishes, and desserts are out for me. But because I did work in a cafe and I do make nice dishes, I get harrassed every time I don’t sign up to bring something.
The thing that annoys me is that the people who plan the potlucks are in another department and I usually don’t see them at all. The only reason why they invite is because they want us to bring food - otherwise, I doubt they would even think to include us.
