1) Excessive/competitive gifting
This just came up at work. Apparently our program staff are (is? ANGE! HELP! I know you are retired but how do I get this verb to agree with a singular subject that implies multiple people) nice to the custodians and this is rare. WTF?? Do people not want clean toilets and vaccuumed carptets and plenty of paper towels, tp and soap?
ALSO: Have you tried to run a professional office WITHOUT custodial services?
ALSO ALSO: I have been a janitor, hotel cleaner, and other similar jobs. People treated me like crap. Why do that? I could have poisoned many people by not cleaning those dance clubs and restaurants in Ames, Iowa back in the 1980s. But, frankly, like contaminated lettuce at a chain taco restaurant (allegedly), how would anyone know it was me poisoning them? They were all barfing after drinking and eating there anyway.
SO: The custodian bought all 5 of us banana bread. Like GIANT loaves. EACH. I bought one a few weeks ago because the lady and her son (boy toy??) came around and were super cute and nice and it's good bread but it was lik 15$ each! The custodian doesn't make that much money.
Most of us were out of the office so our front-desk person doled the loaves out as we came in. The custodian said she wanted to give us these because we are nice to her, talk to her, and give stuff to her. We gave her a TINY jar of jam we'd made, a bit of a traditional medicinal plant (we have tons...good harvest this year) and a bar of soap with said medicinal plant in it. This was over MONTHS. Not all in a day.
My colleague said "Oh hell, this is going to escalate." Yep. Competitive overgiftery shall ensue.
I'm trying NOT to participate but it's hard.
Family-wise we've limited holiday gifts by having names drawn rather than everyone gives to everyone every year. If you want to give an additional gift to anyone, FINE, but no obligation to do so. This cut over gifting there quite a bit and it more fun (for me...hopefully for others). We're mostly adults and we don't need more stuff.
For the office, I really limit. We have a yankee gift exchange but the newer person at the front desk and a couple others (this is for the bigger dept, not just our office suite so about a dozen folks) get gifts for everyone. It's been hard for me not to reciprocate. But it will escalate and if the budget is tight, it is NOT necessary.
To save $$ when cash is tight, STOP the over gifting
---aside: The custodian came in while I was typing this (NOT AT WORK...totally at work) and chatted for 20 min. She wants to learn to can meat! Woot. We teach that and it really helps folks).
Good luck in your quest to not give everyone everything you think they might want.
