Friday, April 27, 2012

You've Got to Use Your Head, Son!

In my wife's department in the company, they work a lot. I mean, everybody at our company does a lot of work, but her department really pushes it every day. Because many people in her group were up against a big deadline a few weeks ago, they were asked to put in some overtime and to fill roles they don't normally fill. Everybody was stressed, but they muscled through.

After the deadline, the manager of the department wanted to do something nice for the group, so she invited those who had worked hard out to a happy hour, and she said that the first drink would be on her (well, the expense account, but still, I thought it was a pretty nice gesture -- events like these don't happen all that often). Some people had two drinks, and the manager was fine with that.

What she wasn't fine with was getting a bill that had five drinks priced at $75 a piece.

Needless to say, in the last few days, there have been some unpleasant conversations. From what I've heard, it sounds like the folks who bought these drinks were fully aware of how much they cost, and they "bought" them anyways.

You've got to use your head, son! Do you like having a job at a good company? Maybe it's best not to make your boss look foolish when she has to file her expense report.

I can't even fathom a scenario in which I would think it would be a good idea to put a ridiculously expensive drink on my boss's tab. Shoot, when I get to travel for my job (on the company's dime), I often worry about whether I should get the burger or the chicken, given the few dollars difference between the entree prices.

To me, it feels like the manager was just trying to do something nice for her employees, and the employees ended up throwing it in her face. On the other hand, I suppose you could make the argument that when the manager said that the first drink was on her, people assumed they could order whatever priced drink they wanted.

I was complaining the other day about an $8 beer, so perhaps I'm being a little too harsh. What do you think? Is this behavior justifiable? Let me know in the comments.

P.s.: To put the drink cost in perspective, I was at an upscale bar last night, and I asked how much a drink of Johnny Walker Blue would be (as it was the highest-priced drink my feeble mind knew about). The bartender said $35, which is less than half as much as the drink these folks got at the happy hour.
P.p.s.: If you're curious what the drink was, here you go.

7 comments:

Michelle said...

I don't think I would ever charge that much. Seems disrespectful.

Daisy @ Add Vodka said...

Wow. I'm with Michelle; it's super disrespectful, and on top of that very unprofessional.

James said...

Those employees are as stupid as the day is long. Talk about not having common sense.

Dannielle @ Odd Cents said...

It was extremely disrespectful and selfish of them. They took her kindness and used it to their advantage. Guess they know who to blame if that never happens again...

J. Money said...

Wowww, haha... that's ridiculous. Who in their right mind would a) do that, and b) think they can get away with it??? What a bunch of clowns.

Christa said...

Wow! I would never order a drink on another person's dime that I would not order for myself in a normal setting. I agree with the others -- that's very disrespectful!

Call Me What You Want Even Cheap said...

I always wonder what people are thinking when they do things like that! The boss will always remember that, especially the next time they ask for a raise! Lol!