Beggars can’t be choosers.
In other words, if you’re taking handouts, don’t complain about it. Very tacky.
I had a similar issue at an xmas party where the catholic boss ordered a ham for everyone. I asked him how we would deal with the lone jew and suggested we do a poultry dish. He flat out said NO. The jew can eat what the rest of us eat.
So, while I think it’s wrong, I don’t think those in power give a flying fuck.
Since it is just “an intellectual exercise,” could you have eaten some sub after removing the meat? Would you have to remove the cheese as well (not being veggie myself, I never am certain)?
And if the idea of waste offends you, I could imagine it wouldn’t take too much effort to find some carnivore who would be happy to pile your discarded flesh onto his grinder.
Huh, I’ve worked for some pretty large assholes, and I can’t imagine any of them taking that attitude.
You have dietary requirements in the minority. While it was insensitive of the management not to think of you, they don’t owe you anything. It’s your responsibility to request suitable food when you know that free food is being offered.
All that said, I must note that vegetarianism is now so prevalent in the UK that few offices would ever consider providing communal food without a vegetarian alternative (which usually covers various religious taboos too). Certainly every business lunch I’ve attended in nearly two years has comprised about 50% vegetarian food. Because, you know, it’s OK to eat food without meat in it…
Excuse me for trying to offer some content to the board.
No.
I hate subs and that’s my problem, not the bosses. I let them know what I like. There’s nothing wrong with that. but it’s best not done on the day they have the subs. That comes across as more bitchy than letting them know a preference. The boss does want it to be an incentive and knowing it’s not let’s them decide if they should include something else next time.
And I ask: why didn’t you ask ahead if there’d be Veggie subs?
Failing that, why not strip the meat off and consume the cheese and veggie laden bread? 
As I’ve said, I didn’t care enough about it in this instance to do so. Is there some way I can make it more clear that this is a hypotheticl question? I’m not going to be asking my manager for a five-spot. Well, not for a sandwich anyway.
Because the cheese and veg-laden bread would be unclean following contact with the meat (although I’m not actually so hardcore as to really think it’s “unclean” I do think that the idea of eating stuff that’s had meat all over it is gross; plus you can’t strip off all the meat residue anyway).
Just because your employer offers you something you decide you don’t want doesn’t mean you are entitled to the cash equivalent. If my boss offers me a candy cane and I don’t like peppermint, would it be reasonable for me to demand that she cough up a buck so i can buy a Butterfinger bar?
If you were uncertain about whether they would be providing any vegetarian options, you should have just brought your own. They offered you a gift, you were free to turn it down. You are not entitled to a cash equivalent.
Cold cuts don’t leave “residue.”
No that I’m in middle management, I have to deal with the other side of the issue, balancing trying to do nice things for employees while being fair and putting up with people who are never happy. (Note that this is not directed toward the OP).
Each department or group in our head office used to have a birthday party once a month for everyone in that group which had a birthday in the month. They’d get a large sheet cake, take 20 minutes out of that day, eat some cake and chat for a few minutes before going back to the grind. You would think that no one would have problems with it, but sure enough. The complainers have to complain. Eventually, the parties were stopped.
Asking for special needs is fine, if it’s not a terrible inconvenience, if phrased such as, “if it’s not too much of a bother, can we get a vegetarian one as well.” Insisting on special needs, when the company is providing freebies, is not cool.
Asking after the fact is a major “no no.”
Uh yeah, they do.
Don’t eat a lot of salami, pepperoni, prosciutto or cappicola, do ya? 
These are “subs”, presumably Italian (at least that’s more or less what they’re synonymous with around these parts, except that we call them “heros” or maybe “hoagies” in some parts of NJ). In which case, rest assured there is “residue” from the meat – it will pass Dr. Nick Riviera’s “paper test”: “rub it against a piece of paper: if the paper turns clear, it’s your ticket to weight gain!”
I get the feeling the major points/sentiments are being repeated over and over…
For the sake of clarity in this “intellectual exercise”, can we find anyone who disputes any of the following statements?
[ul]
[li]It is always proper (i.e., never rude) for someone with a restricted diet to bring their own food. (Duh?)[/li][li]The proper action for someone in the position of the OP, one who is restricted in dietary choice and is being offered free food by his employer in an overtime situation, is to ask ahead of time for a specific option that will allow him/her to partake of the offer. Vegan/vegetarian, kosher/halal, gluten/peanut sensitivity, whatever.[/li][li]Given that this free food is being offered essentially as a goodwill gesture by the employer (i.e., it’s not part of the official “compensation package” of the terms of employment but to “make nice with the rank and file”), it’s in the employer’s best interest to accommodate reasonable requests (i.e., vegetarian options) made ahead of time to ensure maximum inclusiveness. In fact, best practice is to invite such requests, to avoid making a requester seem like a troublemaker. (In a similar situation I did once respond to my employer’s open request to “inform us of any dietary needs” by claiming I had joined a “Cult of the Medium-Rare Steak” and needed to be accomodated, but only as a joke.)[/li][li]Conversely, since this is not part of the terms of employment, if it is unreasonable to adjust the offer for a particular employee’s needs (i.e., the company will be offering free ice cream and the employee is diabetic, lactose intolerant and has a peanut allergy), then that employee is simply SOL and not entitled to anything more than a statement of “I’m sorry you won’t be able to have any”.[/li][li]If it is an ad-hoc food related benefit – such as an emergency, unforeseen overtime situation and the company is paying for ordering dinner – the menu selection should definitely be as inclusive as possible. This isn’t even a company-vs-employee thing, since the menu is likely put to a vote it should be considered a consideration-for-your-fellow-employee thing.[/li][li]The boss who said “The Jew can eat what we eat” regarding a ham at a company “Christmas party” came off as a jerk. Though if said company was, say, “Christiann Schweinfleischmann & Sons”, I would say said Jew was proabably expecting it anyway and wasn’t coming in the first place.[/li][/ul]
Agreed. I was going to say the same thing. Cold cuts assuredly do leave residue and I can only assume Dio has never eaten one if I take his snap judgement at face value.
I don’t know what the prevalence of vegetarianism is but I’m willing to bet it’s enough to make it worthwhile. Kosher I’m less sure of though - how many Jews keep kosher regularly? I have no idea but while I’ve run into plenty of vegetarians in my life I’ve only run into maybe 2 people who kept kosher strictly,
I disagree that the company has any obligation to make any accomodations for vegetarians. If the veggies don’t want the free food, they don’t have to eat it. I also disagree that being a vegetarianism bears any comparison to keeping kosher. Mere preference is not comparable to religious restrictions.
It’s not enough residue to matter. It’s not like it’s going to kill them to eat a sandwich that once had some turkey or roast beef on it. vegetarians lose me when they get into this kind of superstitious territory.
It depends on why, I think. Devout Hindus won’t even eat that, so of course they wouldn’t be picking off the meat in the first place. If you’re veggie for ethical reasons, I agree you should not worry about it as much…but I can still understand how it could be icky.
What if the vegetarianism is part of the religion (strict Hindu or Buddhist)?
From a more practical perspective (which is pretty much always my perspective – I don’t go for these Kantian “in absolute principle” types of discussions that are completely useless for living in the real world), given that vegetarians of whatever stripe (for religious, PETA-ethical, ultra-green, health nut or whatever reasons) are not uncommon, failing to accommodate vegetarian employees is defeating the whole purpose of offering food in the first place, which is as a good will gesture. It really isn’t that hard to order vegetarian options from any given menu.
And being non-religious myself, I don’t see any difference from a “mere preference” for vegetarianism to a religious restriction, and I’m a bit surprised that you do. Are you saying that extra weight should be given to someone who says, “I believe in principle X” just because they add the phrase, “because God told me so”? In a secular state?