Office birthdays; family bad-days

If you think joining your family for Thanksgiving this week is going to be awkward, you’ve got nothing on Michelle from Tennessee, who writes:

So if my dad divorces my mom to marry her twin sister, am I obligated to to eat dinner with them at a restaurant when his dying brother comes in from another state? I want to visit with my uncle, but think the situation is a load of crap and typically don’t attend events with the newlyweds.

I can see why you might have a teeny tiny problem with your dad marrying your aunt, but I suggest that if you can’t arrange a separate date to see your ailing uncle, you should overcome your distaste for the happy-but-wrong couple just this once and join the dinner. You have limited opportunities to see your uncle, but plenty more opportunities to snub your father and your stepmother-aunt.

Michelle’s supplementary question is, fortunately, a bit less like a Greek tragedy:

How many employees have to work in an office for it to exceed the office birthday party limit? We are up to 30 employees and it seems like every week we have to clandestinely contribute money for cake and sign a card. We get it; we all have birthdays. If I donate $2 per cake, I’ve spent more than just buying my own birthday cake and eating the whole thing myself.

Here’s a plan: every worker chips in to a cake fund from which, once a month, your office buys a communal cake. Anyone whose birthday it is during that month gets an extra-large slice, and maybe a round of applause. Sorted! (By the woman who works alone and therefore takes the cue for her office birthday celebrations from Tom Hanks in Castaway.)

Subscribe with iTunes • Book • Question Archive • FAQ • Episodes
• App • Facebook • Twitter • Merch Superstore • YouTube Channel •

This entry was posted on November 24, 2010 at 8:44 pm and is filed under extracurricular questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

2 Responses to “Office birthdays; family bad-days”

Brad Says:
November 25, 2010 at 2:21 pm | Reply
In answer to the second question we used to put in for money if that person was our friend or was in our section at work, and we would get cake and gift cards

Nowadays we just get birthday cards, although we do tend to have nights out drinking for birthdays instead
Darcy Says:
November 24, 2010 at 11:37 pm | Reply
It’s a creepy situation no matter what, but just to be precise, what kind of twin? Identical, fraternal, or conjoined?

Answer Me This! Podcast