Tweet
So, I have a co-irker whom I already loathe for a variety of reasons (a giant Fratch-worthy post of its own, I should get to that one day) but this is about her favorite pet project of the season: Collecting donations, in the office, for a local religious community center that provides Thanksgiving dinners to the elderly and infirm.
In and of itself, I'm not overly opposed to the charity except for their religious bent, as I am openly atheist.
My co-irker, Bitchface McGee henceforth BM for short, has for the past several years gone around the building to collect funds, negotiated to have our employer match the funds, and negotiated the cost of turkeys with the grocery store to maximize the purchasing power of the donated money. I've nothing against all of this either.
No, my issues are thus:
1. BM repeatedly asks me to donate to this charity. Despite my repeated response of 'my donations are always private, anonymous, and to non-religious charities, so thank you for asking but no'.
1A. BM argues that this charity serves people of any religion, so I should donate anyway because my religious views don't matter.
2. BM sends a mass email each year showing the thank you letter that touts how much money was collected, how many turkeys were bought, how low the price was, etc. Despite the fact that the money was donated by many employees - and matched by our employer - the donations are always made solely in BM's name.
3. BM last year was mentioned in the newspaper for her efforts. Conveniently left out was the fact that the money was collected from among our almost 500 employees and then matched by the company. But she did make sure to highlight and point out their recognition of what a great person she is when she posted the article on the company bulletin board.
4. Also last year, while standing right next to my cubicle, BM loudly mentioned that people who don't donate to this charity must not care that senior citizens go hungry on Thanksgiving. Since I was the only one in my office that didn't donate, it's pretty clear that this comment was directed at me.
My belief is that you give to a charity because you believe in the cause, not to be publicly heralded for being a fabulous person. That's just using a charity to glorify yourself. This is not really charity at all but ego-masturbation.
I've managed to stick to my principles, so far, and leave out just how much money we (my wife & I) donate and to which charities. I'm sort of breaking that here just to mention that despite BM's collections and the matching, she still donated less to her charity than my wife & I donated on our own to the local food pantry which has no religious affiliation and provides the same service, sans sermon.
I'm really tempted to tell her off this year, using my donation as an example of her self-centered self-aggrandizing bullshit. But then I would be no better than her and I don't want it to become a pissing contest trying to prove who is the better person.
There's no real point to this post besides venting. I'm just disgusted that I'm going to have to listen to this year's variant of the above for the next 3 weeks.
/rant
In and of itself, I'm not overly opposed to the charity except for their religious bent, as I am openly atheist.
My co-irker, Bitchface McGee henceforth BM for short, has for the past several years gone around the building to collect funds, negotiated to have our employer match the funds, and negotiated the cost of turkeys with the grocery store to maximize the purchasing power of the donated money. I've nothing against all of this either.
No, my issues are thus:
1. BM repeatedly asks me to donate to this charity. Despite my repeated response of 'my donations are always private, anonymous, and to non-religious charities, so thank you for asking but no'.
1A. BM argues that this charity serves people of any religion, so I should donate anyway because my religious views don't matter.
2. BM sends a mass email each year showing the thank you letter that touts how much money was collected, how many turkeys were bought, how low the price was, etc. Despite the fact that the money was donated by many employees - and matched by our employer - the donations are always made solely in BM's name.
3. BM last year was mentioned in the newspaper for her efforts. Conveniently left out was the fact that the money was collected from among our almost 500 employees and then matched by the company. But she did make sure to highlight and point out their recognition of what a great person she is when she posted the article on the company bulletin board.
4. Also last year, while standing right next to my cubicle, BM loudly mentioned that people who don't donate to this charity must not care that senior citizens go hungry on Thanksgiving. Since I was the only one in my office that didn't donate, it's pretty clear that this comment was directed at me.
My belief is that you give to a charity because you believe in the cause, not to be publicly heralded for being a fabulous person. That's just using a charity to glorify yourself. This is not really charity at all but ego-masturbation.
I've managed to stick to my principles, so far, and leave out just how much money we (my wife & I) donate and to which charities. I'm sort of breaking that here just to mention that despite BM's collections and the matching, she still donated less to her charity than my wife & I donated on our own to the local food pantry which has no religious affiliation and provides the same service, sans sermon.
I'm really tempted to tell her off this year, using my donation as an example of her self-centered self-aggrandizing bullshit. But then I would be no better than her and I don't want it to become a pissing contest trying to prove who is the better person.
There's no real point to this post besides venting. I'm just disgusted that I'm going to have to listen to this year's variant of the above for the next 3 weeks.
/rant
Comment