What I would really like to do is to have monthly donuts/muffins/pastries people can grab as they want accompanied by an email noting the events we know about, rather than an "event", but I am not sure that will fly.

Oh god, the stupid, it burrrrrrrns.

I think it's time for me to go get soup.

Assuming it's for your historical novel, I think giving up a piece or two would be the more likely handicap to offer.

I can work with that. Right now my semi-expert's dialogue reads something like, "But I am helping you! I didn't let you do [STUPID THING WITH HER KNIGHT]."

Notes like this are common in my rough drafts. When this scene is finished, if I'm doing it right, readers should think I'm a decent chess player who speaks French (the semi-expert is a Frenchman struggling to learn English). Right now it's painfully obvious neither is the case.

And...I'm off to a sexual harassment prevention class. Lucky me.

What I would really like to do is to have monthly donuts/muffins/pastries people can grab as they want accompanied by an email noting the events we know about, rather than an "event", but I am not sure that will fly

That's what we do here. It really helps cut down on favoritism. Also, I send out an email every month asking for new updates in people's lives, and if they want me to keep it private or not.

I think it's time for me to go get soup.

I am eating a salad. Because the salad has bacon. And I needed bacon after a morning of stupid.

I prefer nothing at all.

But I'm a non-celebrating grouch who doesn't want to be forced to socialize with coworkers.

I am sarameg. I wish for no work celebrations or gift giving. Too potentially fraught. And I've liked most of the people I've worked with very much. And if wishes were horses...

I don't mind the socializing, it's when the unevenness creeps in that it's annoying. My boss got cupcakes for her favorite's one-year anniversary. No one has ever had a workiversary party as long as I've been here. We actually get a card and two chocolates from the company, which I think is plenty nice (even though the candy was actually nasty).

My soup, procured at a grocery store, is pretty good. And the ridiculously priced soy drinks were on sale, so I stocked up on those.

And Reese's peanut butter eggs seem to have ambushed me. Whoops.

Huh. It occurs to me that my one year is tomorrow. Dunno if there's anything that happens.

Relatedly, I can't believe how irked I still am at the lack of even a token xmas bonus or gift. My immediate manager and the one above her both did token things, but still. Which is a stupid thing to be upset about, I fully acknowledge.

And, to tie it all around, the last time I vented about this stuff here was when the plan was hatched to take up a collection for a gift card for immediate manager to, I don't know, pay her back for the token? Which was compounded by the fact that it was also supposed to be for a housewarming on her new condo. Regular readers will note that certain other people in our department recently bought condos, and didn't get jack shit.

Really need to get over this. I hate feeling ill-used, especially when it's about something I really don't care all that much about. Feh.