My coworkers are trying to implement a 'cancellation fee' for our weekly team lunch.

By @reeseyy · Work

A few people have bailed last-minute recently, and now the self-appointed 'lunch committee' wants to charge $10 if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance. I think it's ridiculous, but they're treating it like an official policy proposal.

The full story

My department has a long-standing tradition of going out for a team lunch every Friday. It’s usually a nice way to decompress and actually talk to each other without being in a meeting. But lately, the logistics have gotten… tense. We have a couple of chronic 'maybe' people who will RSVP 'yes' and then bail five minutes before we’re supposed to leave. Last week was the breaking point. Someone had booked a table for 10 at a new place that required a credit card hold. Two people no-showed, and one person cancelled via Slack message as everyone else was putting on their coats to head out. The organizer was annoyed, the restaurant was a little fussy about changing the table size, and it just cast a weird vibe over the meal. So, this week, two of my most organized (and frankly, most Type-A) coworkers have decided to take matters into their own hands. They drafted what they are calling the 'Friday Lunch Social Contract.' I wish I were kidding. It stipulates that if you RSVP 'yes,' you have until Thursday at 1 p.m. to cancel. After that, any cancellation incurs a $10 'logistical inconvenience fee' payable via Venmo to whoever made the reservation. They presented this in an email with bullet points. I’m not even one of the people who flakes, but I find this completely absurd. We are colleagues, not a subscription service. The whole point of the lunch is to be a low-pressure social event. Turning it into a rigid, monetized system with penalties feels like it defeats the entire purpose. It’s passive-aggressive and just introduces more workplace bureaucracy into what should be a break from it. It's going to make people hesitant to sign up, which will likely kill the tradition altogether. Their argument is that it’s about respecting the organizer’s time and holding people accountable. They say it’s not about the money, it’s about the principle. But it *is* about the money, because they are literally charging a fee. We're all adults—if someone's flakiness is a consistent problem, that's a conversation to have, not a problem to solve with a fine. They're 'trialing' the policy this week and I just... I don't want to participate. But if I opt out, I miss out on team bonding and it feels like I'm taking a stand on something so incredibly petty. Would you just go along with it, or would you die on this very strange, very low-stakes hill?

How people voted

Readers are split: “Bad Take” leads with 37% — 190 votes and 5 comments so far.

What people are saying

Keep reading

Vote now on BeSoForeal