In a prior role, the group used to throw baby showers or retirement parties and have a "Money Tree" where people would tie cash to a small twiggy tree for the honoree.
One of the people that reported to me decided to throw herself a dog shower complete with a Money Tree. She had gotten an expensive puppy from the breeder and wanted one for herself since everyone else got to have them for babies or retiring. She had even registered her new furry family member at Target.
She had organized and was planning to throw the dog shower on company time. Tragically she didn't invite her boss (but did invite some of my peers). Interesting woman.
My boss's boss stopped her after the invitations went out. No Money Tree for her.
This is totally mustachian! She was trying to get free stuff! Good job, woman!
Actually, this does crack me up, because I consider showers of all types to be torturous events, so I think it was kind of great that she did something that caused people to gasp a little. Why would we give gifts to her for choosing to get a dog??? I don't know, but why the heck do we give gifts to others for choosing to get married or have babies? Showers are pretty ridiculous whether they are for dogs, infants, or spouses.
I agree, and I think it is insane to have a baby shower on company time, with employees expected to contribute towards it. I am of the opinion that it is your kid, not the company's, if you want to have a baby shower, that is on your own time, with your own friends and family. This isn't just about company time, but the awkwardness of any co-workers feeling obligated to contribute, and I feel the same towards girl scout cookies or marathon/race fundraising, though those can be acceptable as sometimes someone will just put a sheet in the breakroom (much less pressure to give).
You're not supposed to give yourself a baby shower, though; it's bad etiquette. Someone is supposed to put it together for you. And sometimes that's coworkers, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing, depending on your work environment.
Where I work, we throw a baby shower for everyone who has a baby (including guys whose wives have kids). No one is obligated to attend to give anything, and not everyone does. People do bring food, though, so everyone enjoys it when there is a baby shower, and everyone is welcome to attend whether they bring a gift or not. I work at a hospital, with mostly women, so maybe it makes more sense that we'd do that. In a more corporate or less female-dominated setting, maybe it would be weird. I don't know.
Or maybe I'm biased, because I'm 33 weeks pregnant and was given a shower at work a couple of weeks ago - it was a total surprise. So maybe I'm biased. But I appreciated it, because we don't have family in the area, and very little in the way of friends/social life, so I wouldn't have had one otherwise. NOT that I think anyone owes me a shower/gifts, and like I said, I had no idea this was even coming, but baby stuff gets expensive when you are buying everything yourself, and we are very new to Mustachian living, so the budget and I appreciated it very much. It was a lovely and generous gesture, and in a more tight-knit workplace like mine, I don't think it was out of place at all.