# Dear work, potluck is not a 'treat' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877 "2010-06-04T02:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/261 "2022-08-31T04:27:25Z")
At my last job I used to bring fresh baked rye bread and hand churned butter for the mandatory potluck and would sneak out as soon as possible, without eating anything I didn’t trust so I could have some precious alone time. I never once took leftovers home. I also marked my potluck time as working on my time card and had a good time discussing why I deserved to be paid for being forced to be there. Happily for me, the head bitch went on a low carb diet and told me in public that I couldn’t bring bread in anymore. I took that to mean that I was uninvited and never went to another one. Shortly after that, everyone else went on high carb diets and were uninvited as well. I was a hero by the time strongly suggested every one attend team building potluck lunches were down to three or four people. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/262 "2022-08-31T13:18:55Z")
Update- they got even better at my previous employer when the Indian co-workers decided to throw a Diwali pot-luck for everyone. If you like Indian food, there’s not much on this earth better than a home-cooked Diwali pot-luck. At my current employer, pre-pandemic we used to have quarterly pot-luck things - sometimes breakfasts, sometimes lunches, sometimes ice cream/snacky type things. They’re fine by me- I like showing off a little bit with my cooking. They weren’t mandatory and they weren’t regarded as a “treat” from management- they were more of a grass-roots sort of deal that the worker bees would scheme up on our own. I can definitely see how having them too often or for too many people could be onerous though. I wouldn’t want to have to do this monthly, or for 75 people or something like that. That’d go from something fun with minor inconvenience to a total pain in the butt. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/263 "2022-09-01T20:25:13Z")
I know I’m in the minority, but I loved potlucks. It’s one of the many things I miss about going to work before the pandemic, like actually _going to_ work of being forced to work from home. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/264 "2022-09-01T20:47:04Z")
Our work potlucks had the management team providing the main course (usually BBQ or pizza), and then the riff-raff bringing sides/desserts. That resulted in a satisfying spread of bags of chips, store-bought coleslaw, potato salad, cookies and cake, and, from those so inclined, delicious home made stuff (from hot vegetables to salads to desserts). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/265 "2022-09-08T21:04:13Z")
All of the work potlucks that I’ve seen or participated in were employee driven, not organized by the Company. If you didn’t want to participate, you didn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877.md?page=13)