# If you're going to offer us lunch, can you please at least follow through? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200 "2010-11-10T18:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/21 "2010-11-10T22:53:35Z")
> [@dmatsch](#): > > My programmers work hard. I work hard right there with them, sharing the load. > > Boss (VP) comes in around 11am, see’s we’re busy as hell trying to make his laughable project completion date, and probably are going to have to work through lunch. Again. > > Him being the generous man he is, offers to get us lunch. Whadda guy. “What kind of sandwiches would you like?” We tell him. He’s got a really good memory because he’s not writing any of this down. > > …time passes… > > 2pm, and we’re all wondering if we should just go and get lunch, or simply all go home with hungry headaches. What did he say when you called him on his cell phone? I mean, you did phone him to ask what’s with the sandwiches, right? (Best way to phrase it - “Hey boss - that place you ordered our sandwiches from didn’t deliver again. Can I have their number? The guys are hungry, and they were really looking foreward to those sandwiches.”) ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/22 "2010-11-10T23:34:42Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Not that it wasn’t a total dick move… > But why did anybody expect that they’d actually get sandwiches the _third_ time? > Fool me once, and all that. Yeah, fool me once, shame on — [pauses] — shame on you. Fool me — [pauses] — You can’t get fooled again. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/23 "2010-11-11T00:49:37Z")
> [@dmatsch](#): > > Him being the generous man he is, offers to get us lunch. Whadda guy. “What kind of sandwiches would you like?” We tell him. He’s got a really good memory because he’s not writing any of this down. Better than yours, obviously, if this is the third time… Meanwhile, he’s blubbering there in his office with a couple of loaves of bread and a jar of Skippy, saying, “Why don’t they ever ask for peanut butter? Geez I offer to make them lunch, and they NEVER want what I’m making…:(” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/24 "2010-11-11T00:51:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > He pulled this shit three times, but were there any times he promised lunch and delivered? That’s a good question. After the first time, I wouldn’t have trusted him to do it the second time unless he has actually come through like, 20 other times and it was obviously and aberration. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/25 "2010-11-11T00:54:11Z")
Take the team out to a nice steakhouse. Submit expense report. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/26 "2010-11-11T00:59:23Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Take the team out to a nice steakhouse. > > Submit expense report. Yes, and since you’re still working against a deadline, make everybody bring their laptops and work while they eat. Gotta make sure nobody makes the kind of careless errors that commonly result from trying to work and eat at the same time, so everybody take your time. Budget about three hours at the resaturant. And since you’re taking so much dining room space out of commission, make sure you tip the servers REAL well… ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/27 "2010-11-11T05:17:57Z")
This is anecdotal, but I once heard Joss Whedon attribute the best years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to his policy of having the studio pay nearby fancy restaurants to stay open late for his writers, who were more than happy to do week after week of 8-10 hour overtime brainstorming/writing sessions there. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/28 "2010-11-11T12:53:05Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > 1. Fill out expense report > 2. Attach receipt > 3. Place in his hand. > 4. Repeat any time he pulls this crap. When my boss offers to buy lunch for my staff, this is EXACTLY what he means (except that I give the receipt to his secretary). I don’t think he knows where sandwiches come from. Well-intentioned, but clueless. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/29 "2010-11-11T13:43:18Z")
Not sure about these passive aggressive approaches. I prefer the direct approach myself. “Hey, boss, you’ve promised to buy sandwiches for the team three times now and each time you seem to have forgotten. We don’t expect or need sandwiches, but when you offer to get them my guys work through and don’t get lunch because they’re expecting you to buy them. In the end I buy them lunch myself, because of the promise you’ve made but failed to fulfil, you massive cock.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/30 "2010-11-11T14:51:04Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > Yeah, fool me once, shame on — [pauses] — shame on you. Fool me — [pauses] — You can’t get fooled again. No, no, it goes: I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around me Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday And I’ll get on my knees and pray We don’t get fooled again Don’t get fooled again No, no! :: Drums on desk with pencils:: I think it would be enormous fun to have about 36 sandwiches delivered to his office, then all come by and say “Oh, _FINALLY_! ! !” Then proceed to scarf ravanously while tossing the odd olive around his office floor. . . ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/31 "2010-11-11T16:42:25Z")
I’m thinking he must have meant “lunch is on me” and expected you to submit a receipt. I can’t see a VP actually running out for sandwiches. You could probably just email your order to his assistant or something. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/32 "2010-11-11T16:47:35Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > I’m thinking he must have meant “lunch is on me” and expected you to submit a receipt. I can’t see a VP actually running out for sandwiches. You could probably just email your order to his assistant or something. Why did he ask them what kind of sandwiches they wanted, then? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/33 "2010-11-11T17:00:44Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Why did he ask them what kind of sandwiches they wanted, then? Well, that’s exactly it. It’s OK that the VP is such an important guy that he can’t be bothered to go out and place an order at the sandwich shop and pick everything up and pass them out to the guys. Seriously, that ain’t his job, and he probably really does have more important shit to do. Probably. Except, if that’s so, he should say to dmatsch, “Hey, get your guys some sammiches and expense them, go team, yay!”, and expect dmatsch to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/34 "2010-11-11T17:22:14Z")
Remember what happens when someone says something for the third time that doesn’t come true: [The Boy Who Cried Wolf](http://www.oglaf.com/wolf/) _Mod note: the above link itself is safe, but the comic it goes to has a lot of NSFW content in other strips. Careful where you browse it from. -Miller_ ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/35 "2010-11-11T18:08:31Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Why did he ask them what kind of sandwiches they wanted, then? In the case of my boss, mentioned above, it’s because he thinks he’s helping me get the ball rolling … he asks, and then I am supposed to write the order down (in the OP, if my boss were also **dmatsch’s** boss, he would be thinking “wow, that **dmatsch** sure has a great memory!”). Then, it’s an opening for me to say “thanks Boss … would you like me to add a sandwich for you to this order?” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/36 "2010-11-11T21:43:07Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > Remember what happens when someone says something for the third time that doesn’t come true: > > [The Boy Who Cried Wolf](http://www.oglaf.com/wolf/) I agree–this VP should be eaten alive by wolves. FYI, that link comes up blocked as pornography for me. If it \*is \*NSFW, you might want to report your post to have a mod break the link. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/37 "2010-11-11T21:56:55Z")
That particular cartoon itself is safe for work, but the site isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/38 "2010-11-11T22:16:57Z")
I thought secretaries of important people had their credit cards handy…? When I see someone busy promise lunch that means “I will pay” it doesn’t mean “I will carry out the mechanism by which food appears”. That said, your VP sucks big time. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/39 "2010-11-11T22:28:43Z")
In my company, if an admin is doing ordering, they have their own corporate card(s). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200/40 "2010-11-11T22:49:58Z")
Hell, our VP brings the grill and cooks the food himself. Granted, we’re a pretty small company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-offer-us-lunch-can-you-please-at-least-follow-through/560200.md?page=3)