My MIL's Xmas present from her employer..(Wal-Mart)..

[youthere]

a shotglass.

They gave her a shot glass. That was their way of saying "Merry Christmas" and "Thanks for your hard work this year". A shot glass.
It wasn't wrapped.
It was in a torn plastic package with a bit of receipt paper taped to it with her name and "merry Xmas" scribbled on the back. (signed "the management team")
Never mind the fact that she's worked for them since the day they opened.
Never mind the fact that she's never missed a day of work.
Never mind that she always covers for anyone who needs or wants a day off.
Never mind the fact that she's always willing to cut her shift short when the labor costs for the week are getting too high.
Never mind the fact she doesn't even drink.
Last year she got a dishtowel.
This year a shotglass.
OMFG.

[Omphaloskepsis]

1. She should get wasted before her next shift..

That is what I would do, but, I don't always make the best decisions.

[youthere]

4. ..

:rofl:

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. And bring her towel to clean up the puke!

That would be awesome!!

[Wcross]

2. Why bother?

You would think that if they can't give her something useful (like a ham or Turkey) they wouldn't bother at all. Maybe its a suggestion by management that she should start drinking?

[youthere]

3. I told her she should go storming into the management office..

absolutely furious and scream 'Are you insinuating I'm an ALCOHOLIC?!!'

And then threaten a lawsuit. LOL

[Gormy Cuss]

6. I like the way you think.

It sounds like some manager was regifting a promotional item.

[Blue Gardener]

38. Send the management team lumps of coal

Anonymously of course. Maybe send along a nice little note to convey your feelings about Wal Mart. I really hate Wal Mart...it's noisy, dirty, stinky, and full of rude, obnoxious adults and screaming children. I know there isn't much of an option in many small towns though. It's either Wal Mart, or drive 30 miles or more to a larger town.

[begin_within]

5. She should gift wrap it and mail it to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott.

[youthere]

11. What would you have her write on the card?

I told her maybe she should just give it back to them and say "I don't deserve this...really."

[begin_within]

13. "This is how much Wal-Mart appreciates the work you did this year, Mr. Scott."

[Phillycat]

7. Jesus Christ.

That's the cheapest, most tacky thing I've ever heard. Why even bother giving anything?

[youthere]

9. Not EVEN a Christmas card...

just a cheesy shot glass (that was probably a customer return) and a piece of register paper taped to it. Yikes.
How freaking low can you get?

[MorningGlow]

8. Good grief

That is BAD. And I thought my place was the nadir of gift-giving--this year, we all got a calendar. One our department produced. That we worked on so long we're sick of seeing them. That we each have several of lying around in our offices. That we have several boxes of in storage.

But no, I'd have to say a crappy $1.99 shotglass or dishtowel (DISHTOWEL??) beats that any day.

[youthere]

10. When she showed it to me I started laughing my ass off..

and then I realized that it was not meant as a joke, it was actually their gift to the employees. She said one lady got an opened package of swiffer cloths, another got 3 lightbulbs. WTF?

[grace0418]

12. Good lord, you'd have thought they got the gifts at the nearest gas station

instead the store itself, which is especially weird considering there are a *few* nice items at Walmart, right?

Of course, my evil temptation would have been to say "Gee, surprise, surprise Ma. You work for a shitty company."

[Lars39]

14. Is your mother considered a full-time employee there?

It could be part of a plan to make the full-time employees so fed up that they will quit, then Walmart could hire part-time employees to take their place.

[youthere]

20. Yes..my MIL is a full-time employee...

It very well could be an attempt to get the full-timers to leave. The part-timers got doodly-squat.

[KatyaR]

35. Nah, they're already taking care of that--

see this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=114&topic_id=23328&mesg_id=23328

Their employees are about to get majorly screwed.

[Pierre.Suave]

29. WTF?

is there a box of random stuff in the management dept. that they used for xmas gifts?

[HughBeaumont]

15. This is why the ChinaMart family is collectively worth 100 billion . . .

That shot glass cost them probably 1/3rd of a cent to manufacture.

You know what's sad?

They could purchase a shot glass for every employee in the company and in one hour, they will have made the cost back.

[youthere]

22. exactly!

It's not even the fact that the "gift" cost so little..they could have given her a little box of christmas mints or an ornament or something that cost a buck or so..and I would have said "that's nice!" (because it really IS the thought that counts) but absolutely no thought or consideration went into that at all. It's almost a deliberate slap in the face.

[InternalDialogue]

16. When I was a kid, my brother and sister and I would do little Xmas pranks.

I remember going to the garage, finding a block of wood, and wrapping it up for my sis. My brother and I laughed long and hard about that.

But then, we weren't employing my sister. And the level of professionalism expected in a seven-year-old is relatively low.

[Pierre.Suave]

18. HAHA

I did stuff like that too. My favorite was the absolutely ENORMOUS box, which had a slightly smaller box, which had another smaller box etc...until we find the hot wheels car...

[youthere]

23. We did that to my son this year...

we got him an Ipod nano and wrapped it in a box inside another wrapped box etc...We ended up with this absolutely ENORMOUS box.
He's nine and thought it was hilarious.

We also did something like that to my brother in law one year.
He's really into shooting so we bought him a couple boxes of shotgun shells and some clay pigeons..and we individually wrapped every clay and every shell with much much tape. He didn't find it nearly as funny as we did.

[Pierre.Suave]

28. thats what family is for

right?

[LaraMN]

19. Nice. Even when I worked p/t at a department store (which paid pretty poorly),

we each got a turkey for Thanksgiving, and a ham for Christmas. It was much appreciated.

[youthere]

21. You know normally..

I'd be the first one to say that an employer isn't under any obligation to even give a Christmas gift/bonus, and that an employee should be grateful for whatever "extra" they get...but come on! A frickin' shot glass?

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

24. That is a bit insulting

It's just such a cheesy unthoughtful present. They would have been better off getting her a nice card.

[youthere]

25. my thoughts exactly..

even a nice card signed by the management team would have been more thoughtful and appropriate.
I told her to take pictures of the offending glass, and her dishtowel and start a scrapbook of "Crappy things I Got From Wal-mart".

[AllegroRondo]

31. that would make a neat website too

maybe other WalMart employees can take pics of the crappy gifts they got and post them there.

[Kerrytravelers]

26. I once received a thank you gift from the school district I worked for.

The gift was given in 2001. It was a pin that said "The Year of the Teacher- 1997." In 1997, I was still in college, getting my BA and not even considering becoming a teacher at that time.

How thoughtful.

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. A shot glass is too small

to use as a Molotov cocktail, huh?



Pity. x(

[Pierre.Suave]

30. How about...

a Molotov grenade?

[Left Is Write]

32. Lovely. You know what I got?

I work parttime for a gym daycare.

Each of the daycare workers received a certificate for a 1-month free gym membership - to give to someone else.

[Bombero1956]

33. I have to wonder

if the management team was given a certain amount to spend on gifts for employees and instead of spending the money budgeted they speant the least amount and pocketed the rest.

[havocmom]

36. That crossed my mind too. Could some people go to local Wal Marts and ask employees

if they got anything from the company and if so, what? It might make for an interesting look at local management teams' views on their associates.

A shot glass, probably returned by a customer to begin with, is as insulting as leaving a bad wait person a two cent tip. It says, 'we didn't forget, we just think you are shit'.

The staffs of such places should rethink how much dedication they are willing to give such managers.

[SKKY]

34. It almost sounds like an insult to me...

...At least, that's how I would take it.

[Danger Mouse]

37. That's Walmart for you.

They suck. They suck hard. They suck ON ICE.