If there’s one thing I can’t stand are those office birthday cards that get passed around the office. It’s always nice to receive a card on your birthday or on any other special occasion. It makes you feel special and appreciated, and that’s a great feeling. But what I don’t like is sometimes you’re given a card to sign and you don’t even know who the person is. You never speak to that person, and probably didn’t even know that person existed. But you still sign that card because you need to maintain the appearance of being a “team player”.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would rather get a card with fewer signatures from people I know and care about, than a card FULL of signatures and empty well wishes. Sure you get that brief moment of warm fuzzy feeling flowing through your chest, but deep inside I know George in accounting doesn’t care about me. He probably won’t even remember my name after he signs the card.
Once I started this new job and on my second day I was handed one of these cards to sign. I didn’t even know the name of the guy sitting next to me, and already I was supposed to sign a card offering a total stranger a Happy Birthday. But could I pass on the card and say “Sorry, but I don’t know this person”, and refuse to sign it? No. I couldn’t, because that’s the game you gotta play in an office. So I signed the card with the empty greeting that was about as worthless as a crumpled up Snickers wrapper.
So tell me guys. Any stories of office politics that you have to adhere to in order to appear like a “team player”? Or do you strike in alone and let the haters be damned?