Hello and welcome back to the new Dogpound. Well, technically not new, but we are in a “new” year, so that will have to count. The other day I received an e-mail at work from a lady on the other side of the offices, which was a surprise to me, since she will hardly speak to me even when we meet in the office break room. Anyway, she said our HR manager – was leaving the company (which was another surprise since I am on the bottom of the office gossip chain), and would I like to help with the going-away party. I wrote back that I would be glad to help. A few minutes later another e-mail pops up: “Great. You are a great party organizer. Tell me what you want me to help you with.” Notice the subtle change in direction of the letter, from: “would you help ?” to: “you are now in charge of the party.” For some background, I have only helped with one party, and this was when a good friend of mine decided to leave the company. Enough e-mails, so I walked over to her and asked her what was going on. She was adamant that I tell her what to do to help with the party. Seeing that she was not going to budge, I decided to start delegating. She could reserve the large meeting room, arrange the table and chairs, and send out the announcement as to when and where we would hold this going-away party. She was agreeable to the first two items but was again adamant that she was not good at e-mails and I had to do that. I relented and I also accepted the responsibility of getting the cake and other food items for the party. My next stop was to Accounting to hit up Michael, who is in charge of the company credit card. I told him the situation, and that we would need a sheet cake, maybe some chips or peanuts, something to drink, plus cups, paper plates, and utensils. He wrote it all down and said it would not be a problem. Well, there was a problem. The CFO passed me in the hallway and asked me if I had approached Michael to buy some food for the going-away party. I told her the story of how I got selected to run this show, and in short order she proceeded to tell me that we cannot afford to pay for food when someone is leaving the company. Now, this person has been with the company 11 years, and she knows everyone in both plants, and we are going to quibble over maybe $75 total? Then she offered her solution that I should go around and ask for money to pay for the party. First, I am not going to go and pass the hat around, and second, she did not offer any seed money to help the cause. These kind of things really put a burr under my saddle, but I held my tongue, and I told her I would take care of it out of my own pocket. We had already put everything in motion, and I, for one, was not going to go back and tell everyone the occasion was canceled due to lack of funds. Not a good way to start the year, for sure!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
That is all I have room for today. As always, be good, do good, play safe, and remember to give when you can. You will be a better person for it.
JR
