(Culture) Did I offend someone at the office by buying them a gift card?

[Upthewazzu]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Sometimes people don't want gifts because they feel like they have to reciprocate. If they have little money, it just puts pressure on them they wish they didn't have. Not saying that's what happened here, just a possibility.

This.

I absolutely HATE it when my wife's co-workers give her gifts because she then goes out and buys all them gifts. As an adult, all we're really doing is exchanging money. Except instead of getting money we get some useless trinket which gets put in the junk room to never be seen again. Total waste of money in my opinion.

[sacite]

Duh. She may have thought you were hitting on her. I can't be the only one who thought that when this was typed. I am not insinuating that you were or that giving her the card was the wrong thing to do, but c'mon. That's obvious.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by sacite

Duh. She may have thought you were hitting on her. I can't be the only one who thought that when this was typed. I am not insinuating that you were or that giving her the card was the wrong thing to do, but c'mon. That's obvious.

Yep, and he got redpilled

[sacite]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

Yep, and he got redpilled

Well, there's always the example of the nonthinking man, oblivious to things around him and wondering what could possibly have happened. If you haven't witnessed this in some form in a work setting you're either extremely sheltered or blind. I didn't insinuate what he did was wrong (actually, I stated the exact opposite). I said she may have interpreted it that way. Use you noggin.

[CityWok]

People can always find a way to get offended. I love Seattle, but people are generally a bit hypersensitive here and can get offended over the simplest things. Always looking for that opportunity to shame someone.

What you really have to ask yourself is whether what you did was truly unreasonable. Giving someone a gift card for their hard work seems pretty reasonable.

Just because someone is offended doesn't necessarily mean their feelings are correct. People sometimes like to get offended because it makes them feel better about themselves. They prefer to think that they're right, and you're wrong, even though that might not be the case.

[Ceece]

No no no. I don't have any clue what she's thinking about you but a gift card is almost universally appreciated by everyone. I've received them from bosses, coworkers and people who work for me. I even found one stuck in a potted plant on a public street once and each instance made me happy

[Stacey27520]

Try not to overthink it. What you did is very nice!

[anonimuso]

OP, stop worrying about it. You tried to do something nice and if the other person doesn't like it, just drop it and don't do it again. No sense in agonizing over someone else's feelings. You can't control how they feel.

[pirateer]

Did you just hand her the gift card which could be interpreted as condescending, or did you enclose it in a Christmas card with a nice message saying what a nice person she was and what great work she does?

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Sometimes people don't want gifts because they feel like they have to reciprocate. If they have little money, it just puts pressure on them they wish they didn't have. Not saying that's what happened here, just a possibility.

That was my thought as well. It also depends on how it was given and if it was clear that it was a holiday gift or whether it felt off, like someone wouldn't be sure what the intent was.