The Office Valentine: What to Give and What to Avoid
Oh, Valentine’s Day – that over-commercialized holiday designed to pad the pockets of flower shops and jewelry makers. In the world of romance, Valentine’s Day is a chance to express your innermost passion, to charm your mate. However, in the workplace, it’s a day often resulting in coworker confusion and claims of sexual harassment.
While many coworkers will see the lightheartedness and holiday spirit in office valentines, in today’s often oversensitive world, you simply can’t be too careful. The following are a few tips on what to give coworkers this Valentine’s Day and what to avoid.
Keep it Platonic
If you wouldn’t give it to your child, don’t give it to coworkers. While you may think that giving risqué valentines to coworkers would be a fun prank, the gesture would more than likely be misunderstood. When giving valentines to coworkers, remain platonic by passing out treats or by giving cards imprinted with fun, yet straightforward sayings.
Give to One, Give to All
Unless you’re dating or are married to someone in the workplace don’t give a valentine to only one coworker. This can be mistaken as signifying something more and can lead to extreme awkwardness between you and the recipient.
Even if you know that a coworker recently broke up with their significant other and are worried they won’t receive any valentines while others around them are showered with gifts, don’t single them out. By giving the same gift to everyone in the office, you’ll avoid confusion regarding your true agenda.
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Stay Classy
If you’re dating a coworker, try and contain your emotions on Valentine’s Day. While you may be tempted to shower your partner with hourly gifts and to kiss them with each encounter, the office is no place for such things. If you must, give one gift during the workday and save the rest for your after-work plans.
Be Humble
It’s common knowledge that Valentine’s Day in the office is an occasion for coworkers to outshine others in terms of who has the most caring mate. From huge flower bouquets to endless boxes of chocolates, most offices experience a steady V-day stream of deliveries.
If you’re the lucky someone who receives the largest delivery, you’ll likely be tempted to brag it up to coworkers. However, there’s a fine line between showing off your gift and rubbing it in other’s faces. As such, show your cherished gift to others and let that be the end of it.
Valentine’s Day is an occasion for expressing love to significant others and to play up the fairytale fantasy for a day. However, if not given with caution, valentines in the workplace can quickly lead to awkwardness and misunderstandings. From giving the same gift to all coworkers to keeping your love for a coworker companion under control, know what’s appropriate and what isn’t to avoid a V-day disaster.
Andrew G. Rosen
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