Just when I thought things couldn't be anymore backwards at work...

... I get handed this.


There's no way I could be reading that right so I ask "Who's Lasarah?" 'She's in assembly.' "Does she have cancer or something?" 'No, it's a gift for them(Ty and Lorraine).' I'll be damned, I was reading it right.

Let me start of with this: Tyrone Reaves is the CEO/Owner of the shop I work at, Product Integration & Manufacturing. He's also the owner of 2 more shops(that I know of) Bar Works and Tru-Form. This is the dude with so much cash that when he needs more machines to keep up with production, he buys them outright. No loans. Machines that start around 50,000USD each. And new buildings to put them in. This is the man that signs my checks.

Now don't get me wrong, Tyrone is a good dude, I like the man but since when did employees start giving the boss bonus checks for Christmas? Am I supposed to be thanking him for allowing me to work at his shop? Un-friggin-believable. It'll be a cold day in hell, lemme tell you. I'll take my skill-set and work for myself before I EVER do something as ridiculous as give my employer a bonus check.

Something is becoming very wrong with America when employees think they need to reward their company for a job instead of getting rewarded for being a diligent, faithful, hard-working employee.

 

Likely someone who's really working hard to be a suckup.

 

Buying the boss a gift is bullshit. The boss should be buying you gifts.

 

It was poorly worded, I'll give you that. Why not just come out and say "Hey, if you'd like to chip in to get a nice gift for the boss and his wife for the holiday, please see Lasarah (day shift assembly operator, section 9)."

"Donation" definitely makes it sound as if Tyrone and Lorraine are on the skids this holiday season and could use a little financial help.

If you can find the idiot who wrote this (no one actually signed the request) point the errant wording out to him or her then, if you've got the cash to spare and you like your boss, pull a twenty out of your wallet and contribute. It's a nice gesture and in keeping with the spirit of giving. The fact he's your boss and can buy you out 10 times over has nothing to do with with it.

But I'd also follow up to see how much was contributed and what was purchased for the money. We tend to trust our fellow employees but no one is above scamming during the holidays.

 

I've pooled money together with coworkers to buy my last boss a gift.

Of course, he gave really nice gifts to everyone who worked for him, thanked us all for doing good work, and was an all-around great guy.

 

If you work in a small office, buying coworkers small gifts seems a nice gesture if you have the budget for it. Soliciting donations? That's the very definition of WTF.

 

I understand people pooling together for a supervisor/manager because, after all, just another person's employee. I could even understand a small business owner, like a little coffee shop or small ad agency but not the owner of a multi-million dollar corporation. I googled his name and found that Truform alone pulls over 8mil in sales annually. I think he's gonna be just fine.

 

I have to agree with Borla here. I know we don't have the full story. Who's Lorraine? Is there a backstory on what Tyrone has done for the workers in the past? Are he and Lorraine getting married? Getting ready to celebrate a big anniversary?

I exchange gifts with my employees every year. I always make sure to overspend on them. By the largest measure I'm doing about $9M in sales, and that's my worst year ever. Income is an entirely different, much smaller number.

Really I have a much bigger problem with the note writer than I do with the gift. There's simply no context here. I can easily imagine a number of scenarios where something big from a bunch of employees might be entirely appropriate as well as The Right Thing To Do.

 

Nothing makes the holidays suck like mandatory charity.

 

Do you know if this happens yearly? If you were feeling evil, you could leave your copy of that paper out where the boss will find it

 

Fine line between mandatory charity and being robbed. Politeness is the difference.

 

Nice assumption. Maybe you should have read the first post. Here, I'll sum it up for you since you were too lazy: It's kind of hard to be able to pay for everything up front when you cut a $2mil loss every year.

I actually think you're wealthy and you immediately assume everyone resents you for it and then you project that resentment onto others.

No, I don't know if it happens yearly. I just started here about 3 months ago.

 

And your father is the type of boss/owner that I could easily see the employees gathering up a little something for even though I'm sure he's much better off than any of his employees. Single-income household? Yeah, he's doing just fine in our current dual-income household America. Of course I don't know exactly what goes on up top but I bet I have a much better idea of it than you do of what really goes on down here. And that's perfectly fine you wouldn't employ me. I'm not a front-man for a business, I take care of the machines that keeps the wheels turning, almost literally. If you think it takes a bubbly personality to do that kind of work(and do it well), you're sorely mistaken.

 

Hey Cavi Mike, it's one thing if you just want to bitch about your boss, but when you pose it as a problem and folks try to help, it kind of makes you look like a jackass when you snap at them. Next time, if you don't want help, please make that clear.

But in case you're willing to answer questions, why don't you address these since they seem, ya know, relevant.

 

Yep