It's true. Just ask anyone who has ever had a drink with me. Get a little liquor in me and I'm talking up a storm. Or typing, as is the case right now. (At last count I've had three beers and an Irish Car Bomb - 1/2 pint Guiness, 1 oz. Jamison, and 1/2 oz Bailey's Irish Cream.) Thankfully, the husband cooked hamburgers (my fifth burger consumed to date) for dinner so the last beer isn't affecting me as much as it might have if I had kept consuming the alcohol on an empty stomach.
What's new at la maison de Gilroy? Not much. Darr's started another term at school. We're both working. The cats are fine. The dog is fine. We're watching a rerun of The Office right now. It's the one where they place Dwight's desk in the men's bathroom. Classic t.v. goodness.
So, I've sort of been thinking about this one conversation I had with my friend awhile ago about holiday bonuses. I'll do my best to recap it here but since I have been drinking I'm hoping some slack will be extended my way in the event I get it wrong.
The basic premise, as I understand it, is that it is hypocritical to accept a Christmas bonus if you are of a different religion. I know that isn't a great description so I'll provide you with an example. It is as follows:
1. Company A decides to distribute Christmas bonuses to the employees.
2. Employee D is a Jehovah's Witness.
3. Company A wraps all bonuses, except Employee D's bonus, before distribution.
4. Employee D is able to accept the bonus because it is not wrapped in Christmas paper.
Now, the way the argument was laid out during our discussion, not wrapping the bonus for Employee D does not make it any less of a Christmas bonus. Therefore, Employee D is being hypocritical when he/she accepts the bonus. If the company is distributing a Christmas bonus, it is because it is Christmas and it should be considered a gift. If it is against the employee's religion to accept gifts for any reason, this should exclude them from receiving the Christmas bonus, which is a gift.
I suppose one of the reasons I oppose this viewpoint is because I don't want to be considered hypocritical for accepting a Christmas bonus. I'm not a Jehovah's Witness, I'm an atheist. But if/when any company I work for offers a holiday bonus, and my work throughout the year has on any level contributed with the overall success of the company, I feel I am entitled to said bonus. If that means the company does or does not wrap the item to coincide with my personal beliefs then I guess I expect the company to act accordingly and be respectful of my beliefs. Althought that doesn't accurately portray my thoughts - I don't expect the company to know or care what my beliefs are but I do expect the company to at least try to treat all employees fairly. I can't imagine how I'd feel if the company only extended the bonus to the employees who held similar beliefs...
Christians over here, everyone else over there. Christians, here are your bonuses and everyone else, well, you don't get anything.
I'm not describing this as well as I would like. And I still have a ton of thoughts on the subject swirling around in my head. But for now, I'd sort of like to leave this conversation up for debate and see what others think about it. Please feel free to share your thoughts and if I sober up and can contribute a more coherent argument at a later date, I'll do so.
1 comment:
My two cents ... Maybe they shouldn't call it "Christmas bonus" but "New Year's Bonus". Hmm ... then Chinese employees may not qualify. So employees should just get the money and employers should not call it fancy names. At the end ... everyone is happy (unless your boss is a "new born Christian" or something of the sort and really cares a lot about religion). I say ... Live and let live - but I don't understand the whole hypocritical thing about the religion anyway.
p.s. If they have to call the "bonus" anything - they can come up with a religion-neutral term - how about "shopping money" or "spending resourses" :-)
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