I walked into my office this morning, and in place of my rickety old desk chair was a gigantic and beautiful black leather chair with a big red bow tied around it. A surprise gift from my field staff, and one which had to set them back no small dollars.
But my rickety old desk chair was the same rickety old chair that I sat in when I first started this company at my kitchen table years ago, and I’ve been dragging it along with me for better than a decade and a half.
We’ve all had to smile politely at some point while accepting a well-intentioned but perfectly awful gift that we can subsequently hide somewhere, but what do you do when the gift is wonderful and prominently displayed, and you just don’t want it?
Dr. Watson
“The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.” – Florynce R. Kennedy
“Thank you for the lovely gift! You guys wouldn’t mind if I use it at my desk at home, would you? I had been hoping to find something for my desk there and this is perfect!”
I’m also into sentimental trophies of that sort. I would look at the new chair as yet a new trophy that represents some years of success and a crew that respects you. You can always keep the rickety chair around and enjoy it at home.
Frankly, I think that the gift, the cost, and what it symbolizes to the givers makes a pretty strong case for keeping it.
Use the chair, Watson Ol’ Chap! That’s part of the reward for being successful, not having to have a sore ass! Bring the other chair home or put it in the corner of your office at work. Get a little brass plaque and put it on the old chair. Hell, have a friggin commemoration ceremony if ya want, but don’t you think you deserve that big, comfy chair?
Do you want love, or do you want respect? Find the person who came up with the gift idea, and fire him/her. Then you know you won’t have this dilemma in the future, and you’ll have the added bonus that your employees will tread the office carpet in constant fear.
But seriously, I don’t see any way out of your predicament. Do you have enough room to keep the old rickety chair as a memento next to your desk? Otherwise, I would agree that you should probably take it home and cherish it there.
Well, one thing is for sure – If I was gonna go out and buy a new chair for myself, it sure wouldn’t be as nice as this sucker is. The kids outdid themselves. The only thing this baby doesn’t do is make the decisions for me.
I’m kinda with you guys on this. I’d look like a fariggin’ ungrateful wretch if I made the thing disappear, and if I’m feelin’ particularly prideful on any given day I can always count on you good folks to keep me humble . . .
In fact, the thought of making the old chair into a shrine of some sort is just the kind of thing I’d expect you to shout down, if only because it smacks of egotistical monumentalism (which, if you haven’t noticed, is one of my specialties).
But still, that old chair has my ass-print worn into it after all these years, and if that thing could talk . . .
Dr. Watson
“A morsel of genuine history, a thing so rare as to be always valuable.” – Thomas Jefferson
Don’t you dare throw that beauty out. I was so touched by your story about the kitchen table and the years it’s been under your butt.
I would keep it close at hand and if anyone asked why I couldn’t part with it, I’d tell them it has magical positive mojo ('cause it kind of does). And whenever I felt the need I’d plant my butt in that old chair.
You might find that other people might need, from time to time, to borrow a little of that mojo for themselves.
Plaques—Bah!!
Wisdom is the boobie prize,they give you when you’ve been --unwise!
Can you make your chair into some sort of kooky employee appreciation reward?
“Bob, I really proud of all you’ve done for the company. To show you how much we love you you’ll be graced with “The Original Chair”. This is the chair that I first started this company with many years ago and now it is yours. I couldn’t think of a more fitting award for your service than to force you to sit in a rickety old chair with my ass print in it. Congratulations.”
On second thought maybe you should donate it to the Smithsonian?
“You CAN’T be evil. 'Cos no matter how many ‘bad’ things you do on purpose,
you MUST be doing it because you think it’s the right thing to do.”
Since you describe the gift as
“beautiful” and “wonderful,” etc., I suspect the problem is not that you can’t fully appreciate it and “just don’t want it.”
The real problem appears to be that you just don’t want it in the particular spot where your primary chair belongs. So, prominently display the new one elsewhere. Give your office visitors a plush welcome by placing the chair in any one of the standard “visitor seating” spots in executive offices.
You could alternatively place the chair at the head the table. If conference set ups /chairs should avoid the idea of hierarchical facilitation, put the chair in any other prominent place that allows you to enjoy it without making the other chair jealous.
No, no, no! (She mildly disagreed). Anything other than using the new chair as your very own primary desk chair will be a rejection, and your loving employees will feel like crap. At best, they will feel foolish. At worst, they will be resentful. Neither makes for a great working atmosphere.
Use it, love it, and let it remind you of the esteem in which they hold you. The historic Chair can stay, but you must use the new one. I see no way around it.
Catrandom
Go to a vet that’s also a taxidermist. Either way, you’ll get your cat back. Sig courtesy of the amazing WallyM7
This is what I would do, which doesn’t reflect what you should do. You’re more articulate than I am. I would use the chair as my desk chair. Take the one you have dragged with you for decades take it home… or place it on the other side of your desk. Or somewhere near by. Also… you might want to make something out of it. Something you can place on your desk. Like a pen holder, or something like that. I don’t know if you want to destroy it, but it would be sorta interesting to let it move on with you, so it could be an important part of your life.
and as for
Just be glad it can’t quote you. Because it’s probably heard its fair share of farts…
Easily enough done. What a lovely dovely ending. Aaagh, wait, I think I hear jealous words ensuing between chairs at this very hour. Quick action is needed! Give me a buzz saw!
I’ve been lurking on this thread and was touched by your sentiments and those of your staff. I didn’t add anything because I thought everyone covered it really well. However your posting of the results gave me an idea (which may have already occured to you).
You so vividly described how much the old chair meant to you and the years of hard work it represented. You also described how you’ve added it back into your office with an old drafting table. The two chairs set off from one another in your office seem to me to represent a juxtaposition between your company’s humble beginnings and its present success.
What I would do is write a letter to tell your staff how you feel about the two chairs. Tell the story of the old chair and its meaning to you, much as you did here. Then tell them how touched you were at the staff’s gesture. Explain how you’re keeping them both in your office because the old one represents the hard work it took to get to where you are, and the new one demonstrates the success the company has achieved throught the efforts of the devoted staff.
Bill
You don’t have a thing to worry about. I’ll have the jury eating out of my hand. Meanwhile, try to escape.
Sig by Wally M7, master signature architect to the SDMB
