I was at work yesterday (Feb. 14th, Valentines Day, Day of Tears and Lonely Misery, etc.). A couple minutes after I got there, one of the higher-ups was walking through the cubicle areas and handing out roses. To the women. From the boss.
He had apparently gone home for the day, so only my coworkers heard me yelling, “Where’s my flower?! This is bullshit! I’m gonna talk to my lawyer and file a discrimination suit against the company because of this!” I might have been more convincing if I wasn’t still sitting in my cubicle in front of my computer, but dammit, I was pissed! Okay, maybe not, but they were really nice roses. Eighteen-inch stems, blooms the size of baseballs, variety of colors… really nice.
If I hadn’t been sharing a cube with a female who set hers in a Styrofoam cup of water where we could both look at it, I might have spent the rest of the day suffering from tears and lonely misery. Then again, those tears might have shorted out my computer, causing an electrical surge through the office, a giant explosion in the basement and a meltdown of the main server… Revenge is mine! HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!! (That’d show the boss that men need love, too.)
In all seriousness, that DOES smack of sexism, hands down. To me, that wasn’t so much a nice gesture to the ladies as it was a snub to the gentlemen. Is it really that hard to come up with a little gift (my company handed out small tins of M&Ms to everyone, and offered cupcakes in the kitchen) that can be given to everyone and be universally appreciated?
I agree with you Helly. It is one thing to do that sort of thing at a social occasion where the employees are invited and it’s not a company function. It is quite another to do that sort of thing at the job site. Especially since it was to all the women. Not just one or two (or 3 if you’re really morbid)…
LOL– this day and age, you give a flower to just a small handful of women, and you’re likely to have a sexual harassment lawsuit slapped on you!
Of course, you’d have to know that the women you’re giving them to wouldn’t do that sort of thing. You know, the kind that you hold pictures of in compromising positions….
Haha– true, very true! 😉
It reminded of every previous Valentine’s day I’ve experienced… I have NEVER recieved a flower on Valentine’s day, not to say never ever … The flowers from my relatives on my birthday don’t count.
Hope you had fun looking at that rose 😀
-Jo.