I work as a junior marketing analyst at a corporate firm, making around $52,000 a year. After taxes, rent, and student loans, my disposable income is minimal.
Last week, our senior director announced he was retiring to his lakeside property. His executive assistant sent an all-hands department email demanding that all 15 team members contribute $200 each so we could buy him an engraved luxury Omega watch.
Gifting Up Is Bad Etiquette
I politely replied to the organizer in private, letting her know that while I wished the director the very best, $200 was outside my monthly budget. I offered to sign the department card and bring homemade cookies to the farewell lunch.
Since that email, the organizer told several colleagues I was “cheap and ungrateful.” I have been excluded from lunch invitations and left off optional brainstorming calls. AITA for refusing to gift up?
Consensus: Rule #1 of workplace etiquette: Gifts in an office flow DOWN, not UP. Subordinates should never be coerced into funding luxury gifts for executives making 5x their salaries.
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