Are you KIDDING me?!
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SammieGetsFit
Posts: 432 Member
If you're looking for a vicarious rage black-out (or to post snarky comments about how I'm overreacting that I can use to fuel my rage), you've come to the right place. This will be a rant. Stop now if you're not interested (though my title seems pretty rant-y to me, which should have served as a warning).
My office is having a -mandatory- team lunch. There will be about 20 people going, and restaurants are persnickety about serving that large a party. PLUS, we were told that we have to "make up the time" spent at lunch, even though we have to go, because we can't charge clients or overhead for time spent hanging out. Okay.
So we're trying to find a place that will take that large a party. The only variety of cuisine in play is American, because too many people have various issues with spices, etc. Okay.
I found a brewery that has a WHOLE VEG MENU! YAY! The catch: the meat-eaters will have to eat off of a fixed (5-item) menu.
SO WE ARE GOING SOMEWHERE THAT ONLY OFFERS THREE VEG OPTIONS INSTEAD. So the omnis can pick whatever they want.
REALLY?!?! You went from going somewhere that has good food, 5 options for omnis, 6 options for vegs, and is reasonably priced (not to mention the fixed menu will keep our lunch to a "reasonable" 2 hours instead of 3), to a place that has salad, pasta, and a falafel sandwich for me and 3 vegetarians to chose from?! REALLY?!
PLUS, the new restaurant is way fattier/fried foodier.
I want to scream. Normally, I try to be cool about things. I don't complain that our team foods are rarely veg friendly (birthdays, etc.). I don't tell people that their food disgusts me, is killing the planet and them, and is contributing to cruelty beyond their imagining. I'm not a "preachy" or particularly vocal vegan. But when you REQUIRE me to go to a lunch AND TO MAKE UP THAT TIME but can't have the decency to deal with limited options LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE TO, you are an @$$hat. And I'm P!$$3D!
That is all.
My office is having a -mandatory- team lunch. There will be about 20 people going, and restaurants are persnickety about serving that large a party. PLUS, we were told that we have to "make up the time" spent at lunch, even though we have to go, because we can't charge clients or overhead for time spent hanging out. Okay.
So we're trying to find a place that will take that large a party. The only variety of cuisine in play is American, because too many people have various issues with spices, etc. Okay.
I found a brewery that has a WHOLE VEG MENU! YAY! The catch: the meat-eaters will have to eat off of a fixed (5-item) menu.
SO WE ARE GOING SOMEWHERE THAT ONLY OFFERS THREE VEG OPTIONS INSTEAD. So the omnis can pick whatever they want.
REALLY?!?! You went from going somewhere that has good food, 5 options for omnis, 6 options for vegs, and is reasonably priced (not to mention the fixed menu will keep our lunch to a "reasonable" 2 hours instead of 3), to a place that has salad, pasta, and a falafel sandwich for me and 3 vegetarians to chose from?! REALLY?!
PLUS, the new restaurant is way fattier/fried foodier.
I want to scream. Normally, I try to be cool about things. I don't complain that our team foods are rarely veg friendly (birthdays, etc.). I don't tell people that their food disgusts me, is killing the planet and them, and is contributing to cruelty beyond their imagining. I'm not a "preachy" or particularly vocal vegan. But when you REQUIRE me to go to a lunch AND TO MAKE UP THAT TIME but can't have the decency to deal with limited options LIKE I ALWAYS HAVE TO, you are an @$$hat. And I'm P!$$3D!
That is all.
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Replies
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I'm pissed off for you! That's insane....I would totally ditch them and have lunch by myself at the other place 0 -
That's annoying - especially since I know from talking to you that none of the 3 options are vegan-friendly without modification. It's depressing that people think of vegan or even vegetarian options as options they *can't* eat -- like, the omnis aren't looking at the veg options and thinking, "Hey, that looks good," they're thinking "OMFG where is the chicken?!" I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed by the way people think.
Also, requiring you to make up time for a MANDATORY lunch is the biggest bull**** I have ever heard of, especially when they then won't take you to a place that has options you can actually eat.0 -
Sorry to hear that, I would be pissed off too. My company does a lot of lunch meetings and sometimes we have to go out to restaurants as well. I totally feel your pain. Luckily my new director is a lifelong vegetarian (dairy, but no eggs), so that should help me out a bit. They have been nice about ordering vegetarian options, but since I've been vegan, we haven't had any lunceons. I am sort of dreading it, but I bring my lunch everyday anyway, so I'll just come prepared. As for forcing you to go AND make up the time, that sounds like a load of bullsh*t. I'd just call in sick that day! haha0
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What?! Mandatory, but unpaid? I would be mad about that.
The food thing, yeah, that's annoying...especially because meat-eaters have a million menu choices pretty much anywhere they go. And whining about *only* having 5 menu options? From a vegan perspective that is a lot! I feel ya...though, to be honest I love love LOVE falafel and I'd be happy that there's at least one protein-rich vegan option to choose from. Nothing worse than settling for the steamed vegetable platter and feeling your stomach rumble while everyone else complains of being stuffed.
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Thanks, everyone! I think the larger problem is that I don't love my company or the project we're working on. So the insult to injury thing is really getting to me. It could definitely be worse, but I'm almost madder that it's not (weird, I know!), because at least if it didn't have the falafel option I would be justified in not going and sticking to my own lunch. I'll keep you posted. :flowerforyou:0
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I had a similar issue a few years ago where I had a coworker who was very picky and even in normal restaurants, she wouldn't eat many things. We'd have to eat as a team a couple times per year (usually 1-2) and she would refuse to go to the restaurant that had 4-5 veg options because she only liked a couple items at the restaurant. Instead, we would go to a restaurant that had 1 veg option because there were a couple more options for her there. She wasn't even willing to trade off and try to go to the restaurant with options for me.0
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The annoyance meter went up here with "mandatory but unpaid" too...the food thing just adds fuel to the fire.0
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This sucks. I've been in a similar situation many times. It really comes down to picking your battles and this one, while annoying, probably isn't worth your valuable time and energy.
The best thing to do is take comfort in the fact that you're making better choices in life and smile smugly with that knowledge through lunch.0 -
The mandatory but make up the time is pretty much the way it is now. It is an employer's market. If you have a half-way decent paying job, you're lucky, and the employers know this. Just be gracious about the whole thing. It's all you can do. In this kind of food situation I always go for a salad, baked potato with Italian dressing, and whatever side vegetable they have that day. The will usually steam or grill it if you ask.
Here's a funny/tragic story told by a lady I used to work with. She worked for a doctor who invited all his employees to a Christmas party at his house. Now, the party food was provided by the drug reps who provided this doctor with sample drugs, and the employees had to leave work 3 hours early to go to the party and were not paid for this time.
How's that for a cheap *@#*!0 -
I feel you're totally justified, Sammie. If this happens again, here's what you do:
Go to the pub place the day before and get something to go. Then bring that with you to the lunch the next day, order the most expensive thing on the menu (on the company's dime), then eat your lunch and throw out the item that you were forced to order. And if the others on your team get embarrassed by this, bonus.0 -
Sorry for your plight. I've been in situations like that in group settings, and unfortunately, there are simply times you have to take control of a situation and bring your own food. I had to do that at a banquet recently, and I felt like I had a neon sign above my head, "Hey, we have a non-conformist weird-o eater here!". My other solution has been to eat before the event, but still, I still stick out like a sore thumb because everyone wants to know why I'm not eating. I've even been known to bring a vegan micro-meal, if I know there is a microwave available. Hang in there.0
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Think of it like this - you are incredibly lucky to live somewhere that has that amount of veggie choice. Where I live, 3 options is almost unheard of - that's a VAST choice to me and would totally confuse me cos I wouldn't know what to pick lol!0
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Bring your own and your computer and work at the table.. that way, you get everything you want and won't have to make up the time!0
