# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/101 "2011-06-22T22:39:34Z")
There’re semi-frequent potlucks here in my office, but they’re always kinda organized by the employees themselves, and it’s totally voluntary. I can barely remember the stuff I’m supposed to remember for work, so I always forget about them and just don’t participate. Though if I need to go into the break room for something, they’ll usually pressure me into making a plate, which is not the worst thing in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/102 "2011-06-22T23:05:14Z")
Last work potluck I attended, I got around my reluctance-to-cook issue by bringing a gallon of tequila and a blender. I was quite popular, and did not have any ‘leftovers’ to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/103 "2011-06-22T23:08:52Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Last work potluck I attended, I got around my reluctance-to-cook issue by bringing a gallon of tequila and a blender. I was quite popular, and did not have any ‘leftovers’ to deal with. Mmm… the rare properly-aerated tequila shots. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/104 "2011-06-22T23:19:10Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > You guys are an angry bunch! :o > > Guess I’ve never had this issue. I love people with food. When I was a kid, I used to bake chocolate chip cookies and bring them to the warehouse and construction crews (let’s face it - they were cuter anyway //cough) at my dad’s business because the ‘office’ staff was always so snotty to them and they were often left out of things. > > As I got older and the business downsized temporarily, I convinced my dad to pay for a boxed-lunch type deal (turkey sandwiches from deli, soda, etc) in honor of Thanksgiving and everyone was happy for it. The company had no obligation to do this and things were tight. In the better years, the _company_ paid for food one day each summer and staff’s families (if possible) could join in and everyone had a 2 hour lunch (with some staff having to alternate and such) and the kids ran around with water guns. Yes, this was on a regular work day – a Friday. Not a ‘oh damn the company picnic is this Saturday and I want to sleep in’ thing. > > At my former workplace, the principal was always trying to get staff to bring in a ‘potluck’ type of breakfast for trainings. Her team-building ideas sucked. But hey, even with my low salary, I threw together huge bowls of yummy-ass fruit salad (10x better than the store deli shit) and got some (very bad for you) danish. About 4 out of 72 employees brought stuff :rolleyes: **but** I participated to be a good sport **and** a lot of people thanked me. I also brought in gold and purple cupcakes for our team staff when we got our SEIU contract signed. I mean, I donno. Food is not a bad way for people to socialize. > > _shrug_ > > Do they actually expect you to cook? Can’t you just bring a bag of chips? You don’t have one single office mate that you can’t hang out with? ☹ Buying a bag of chips means I just paid to go do something at my job. I just paid for extra time spent doing something I dont’ want to do because I might be fired otherwise. And, while there may be people I could normally stand, they will either not understand that I don’t want to be there, or they’re going to be in a bad mood, too, and often getting to know them when they are cranky often makes the work relationship even more difficult. Take away the mandatory part, and I will probably come, and even probably bring something. I know that everyone there wants to be there, and if I don’t have a good time, I can leave. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/105 "2011-06-22T23:26:57Z")
Ours aren’t mandatory. We have twelve floors. You pay $15 to belong to the employee association. If you don’t want in, fine. That just means that you have to pay a couple of bucks when there’s a potluck. Otherwise, each event is free. Every month a different floor (or sometimes two floors) will host a potluck for the whole building. We meet in the training room–the only room big enough to fit everyone. Every month it’s different. Sometimes it’s ice cream or Mexican (for Cinco de Mayo). We just did a tapas thing (crudite!) Next month it will be salads. If you want to contribute something, great, but it’s not mandatory and there is a fund to get store-bought things. Then in December we have a really nice luncheon at a place down the street. That’s in addition to parties that individual departments throw for themselves (which, again, are not mandatory). It’s not a bad thing for me. My lunches tend toward the “prison food” end of the spectrum, so having one day out of the month that I can count on real food is nice. Also, people tend to be smart. If they can’t cook, they stay out of the kitchen. I’ve never been to an event where the food sucks. And if it’s for something that I don’t care for (like the baked potato thing for St. Patrick’s Day), I just bow out. Like about 70% of the staff do all the time. Because my building is so big, I don’t know anyone except for the people in my department, particularly on my floor. So if anything, the events allow me to see who else works in the building. Usually what happens is that friends just sit with friends, with little intermingling. Or people will take their plates up to their offices. So there is no forced anything. I feel sorry for anyone that is forced to do potlucks. But they don’t necessarily have to be horrible if they are done right. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/106 "2011-06-22T23:32:17Z")
> [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](#): > > Mmm… the rare properly-aerated tequila shots. 😉 OK, there was ice and margarita mix too. But someone else brought that stuff. It was a team effort. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/107 "2011-06-23T01:42:06Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > When i was in my 20’s, I worked in a place where we all got along very well, and of our own accord organized potlucks. That was fun and pleasant. > As you can guess, management eventually forbade them. :rolleyes: Yep, that happened to us too. Management was “concerned” at the time being wasted. Yeah, it came to about a single two hour lunchbreak for everyone a month. That’ll bring the company to its knees.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/108 "2011-06-23T02:32:56Z")
I have been told by a federal government contract supervisor that federal accountability and accounting rules are so strict for federal contractors that it is impossible for contractors to give their employees even a minute of paid time that can’t be directly attributed to actual work. So if they want to do any kind of morale building activity, like taking staff of to lunch, they are forced to take everyone off the clock during lunch and then make them stay late so that they can bill a regular 8-hour day for each employee. There is a possibility that the contractor could bill less than 8 hours and then pay thei employees out of pocket to make up the difference but then the bureaucratic procedures for explaining the reason for the short billing are so complicated and annoying that they don’t want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/109 "2011-06-23T03:40:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I have been told by a federal government contract supervisor that federal accountability and accounting rules are so strict for federal contractors that it is impossible for contractors to give their employees even a minute of paid time that can’t be directly attributed to actual work. So if they want to do any kind of morale building activity, like taking staff of to lunch, they are forced to take everyone off the clock during lunch and then make them stay late so that they can bill a regular 8-hour day for each employee. There is a possibility that the contractor could bill less than 8 hours and then pay thei employees out of pocket to make up the difference but then the bureaucratic procedures for explaining the reason for the short billing are so complicated and annoying that they don’t want to do it. That may be true, but in our case, it was just management being jag-offs as usual. No federal rules or anything. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/110 "2011-06-23T12:14:36Z")
I attended what was probably my last work pot-luck last week. I’ll be retiring in a month, so it’s a pretty good bet. 😃 The boss brought his grill and STEAKS! I swear, they were an inch and a half thick at least! The rest of the team brought the sides and desserts, and I brought drinks and ice and a watermelon. We took over a covered pavilion for the afternoon. And there were only 9 of us, including the boss’ boss (he brought beer) and we had a nice time eating and talking and just relaxing. Sadly, the team will pretty much disappear by the end of the year. Apart from me retiring, 3 positions have been eliminated, including the boss, and the most junior guy is most likely going to lose his job because there’s a 30% reduction overall - someone with more seniority from another team will likely bump him out. So of all those attending, only 4 are likely to hold their jobs after next March, and one of those is pretty far down in seniority, so she might be bumped out also. Yay team… :rolleyes: But the food was good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/111 "2011-06-23T17:44:52Z")
1 can each of black beans, corn and diced tomatoes. Remove liquids from can with strainer. Dump in bowl. Dice one onion. Add to bowl. Put on some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix. 10 minutes max. Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/112 "2011-06-23T18:20:00Z")
Blame the 90s and all those H/R books that stated, employees can be made happier with other things than money. Fair enough if your Mark Zuckerberg or some other billionaire, but for 99% of us, give us money and forget about the rest. I love those, “Money isn’t a motivator it’s a satisfier” crap spout in my H/R manuals in the 90s 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/113 "2011-06-23T18:26:57Z")
I don’t mind them. I just sign up for drinks or a vegetable tray. I mean crudites. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/114 "2011-06-23T19:39:03Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > I know this one guy that brings his own tupperware and fills them at the end of the Potlucks. Is that tacky or what? The guy is shameless and you can tell him others may want to take some home and he smiles and keeps filling his tupperware. He never brings a thing either! Oh, he probably thought it was a potlatch dinner. Easy mistake. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/115 "2011-06-23T19:57:00Z")
We had a woman at the office who would fill her tupperware to-go boxes BEFORE - so at least he waited 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/116 "2011-06-23T22:17:29Z")
Our agency has decided that morale is probably low due to pay cuts. They have directed supervisors to make sure they are working towards maintaining morale. My supervisor has decided that movie and potluck day is the way to improve morale. I don’t potluck. Even smelling the food that some of my co-workers eat makes me want to vomit. I rarely cook. **My** morale has sunk to the depths with this mandatory meal. So I told my boss that I wasn’t participating in the food, and she said that’s okay, but they are having the potluck about 30 feet from my cube so I will still be smelling whatever gets brought in. And watching a movie? Fuck me, I have work to do here! The movie has to have a “leadership” message; my boss has recommended Office Space, Galaxy Quest, or Invictus. Can I just agree with one of these? Oh, no, that won’t do. Movie recommendations are also mandatory. And since they checked calendars before scheduling, I cannot skate out of this at all. ARG!!! /thread killed ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/117 "2011-06-23T23:16:34Z")
She recommended _Office Space_ as an example of a movie with a leadership message? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/118 "2011-06-24T08:01:49Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Yep, I had a boss a few years ago who was really into golfing. So guess what our department did as a team-building exercise? There were a number of us who were not even remotely interested in spending an afternoon golfing, but we were more or less forced into attending. Oh yeah, and we weren’t allowed to charge the afternoon to company time either, it came out of our vacation. :mad: You worked for Dan too?:eek: We had to do it to get the “annual bonus check” I skipped it, told him to keep the check(worked for 8 hours instead and made more money than the bonus). OTOH I DID go bowling the next year (was on a league at the time, how could I say no?) ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/119 "2011-06-24T10:35:21Z")
You know what’s worse than monthly potlucks? When a few of your colleagues get obsessed with watching _Come Dine With Me_ and decide that one month, it should be a competition. Normally, if people aren’t in the mood to cook on the night before the potluck, we can get away with picking stuff up at one of the many shops nearby, but now we have to make a fucking effort, because we will be grading each other on taste and presentation. Of course, it has to be something that will be tasty either cold or microwaved, which cuts down on the options somewhat. Plus nobody tells anybody else what they’re making, so it’s a whole clash of flavours, and desserts will inevitably be chocolate because that’s a short cut to Flavour Country, leaving Subtletyville and Light On The Stomach So You Don’t Crash During The Afternoon City in the rear view mirror. On top of that, the conversation moves from repeating half-heard news stories with added layers of prejudice and misunderstanding to what’s in each dish and compliment-fishing along the lines of, “Oh, I don’t know if it’s going to be as tasty as it normally is, I had to substitute the hand-picked wankberries from my local pretenterie with canned shitpeas from Tesco…” I like my job, but I’m glad we’re normally too busy to talk during the day. I blame Overly Enthusiastic Colleage, who keeps trying to get us to have fun - luckily her idea of spending the weekend at a Murder Mystery hotel fell through. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877/120 "2011-06-24T11:13:53Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Yep, I had a boss a few years ago who was really into golfing. So guess what our department did as a team-building exercise? There were a number of us who were not even remotely interested in spending an afternoon golfing, but we were more or less forced into attending. Oh yeah, and we weren’t allowed to charge the afternoon to company time either, it came out of our vacation. :mad: About 10 years ago I was working for a company that did one of tho team building saturdays … it came to the section where you fall backwards off a stepstool and trust your team to catch you. I positively refused. With a previously broken back, I do not trust _anybody_ to do anything. I was not going to risk my hard earned ability to continue walking to a bunch of yahoos catching me. I can screw my back up by bending over to pick something up and moving just right [or wrong depending on how you look at stuff] I finally chewed out the HR dweeb that was there and pointed out they did _not_ want to have the liability of possibly paralyzing me and I sat out the rest of the damned day with a good book. I refuse to do physically active team building bullshit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-work-potluck-is-not-a-treat/541877.md?page=7)