FWIW, I think you should not have brought homemade cookies, it means “something personal”. In a way, having good but bought food is easier to cooperate on. I don’t mean it was your fault the others took advantage of your generosity (that would be stupid), just that sometimes, we should try the easier way first. I was thinking about storing some generic cookies at our place as a fall-back option and tell people they can bring stuff to have “a more interesting table”. And maybe once in a while collect a little money to replenish the stores. If someone new comes in and finds homemade food, its kind of awkward, and new people join in at times.
Our results were: 1) bought and forgot to eat; 2) bought enough for people who came there from home but too little for people who came from work; 3) bought and ate; 4) forgot to buy; 5) got so hungry we had to stop talking (about food) and send a guy out for sandwiches; 6) bought and saw that someone brought their own food, too, so we had to redistribute the leftovers… I mean, we are just great at this planning thing...
...but if you offer me to guess, I’d wager people said it’s really just not worth a bother.
What actually happened was exactly the same as what happened with the homemade cookies: people ate the food, without ever in any way acknowledging that I had brought it (thanking me wasn’t even on the radar); no one else ever brought anything.
I’m sorry to hear that.
FWIW, I think you should not have brought homemade cookies, it means “something personal”. In a way, having good but bought food is easier to cooperate on. I don’t mean it was your fault the others took advantage of your generosity (that would be stupid), just that sometimes, we should try the easier way first. I was thinking about storing some generic cookies at our place as a fall-back option and tell people they can bring stuff to have “a more interesting table”. And maybe once in a while collect a little money to replenish the stores. If someone new comes in and finds homemade food, its kind of awkward, and new people join in at times.
I tried that, too, as it happens. Would you care to guess what the result was?
Our results were: 1) bought and forgot to eat; 2) bought enough for people who came there from home but too little for people who came from work; 3) bought and ate; 4) forgot to buy; 5) got so hungry we had to stop talking (about food) and send a guy out for sandwiches; 6) bought and saw that someone brought their own food, too, so we had to redistribute the leftovers… I mean, we are just great at this planning thing...
...but if you offer me to guess, I’d wager people said it’s really just not worth a bother.
What actually happened was exactly the same as what happened with the homemade cookies: people ate the food, without ever in any way acknowledging that I had brought it (thanking me wasn’t even on the radar); no one else ever brought anything.
Tough...