I'm so pissed off right now. Why? Simple. My boss decided to order pizza for everyone in the office today. But instead of ordering kosher pizza so I could eat as well, he ordered treif. And not just ordinary treif, but with pepporoni. I wear a kippa and everyone knows I keep kosher. We are a small company where everyone is really close, so it should not have been a problem ordering the bit-more-expensive pizza so the frum yid can eat as well. YA, YA, that same frum yid that helps everyone whenever they need it. "Oh, how do I force quit?" "Why isen't it printing?" "How do I attach this?"AND, I work for a Jewish company for God's sake. Instead, I ate my plums while the rest of the pigs ate their pepperoni.
Hail Ezzie.
Welcome to the real world - you're out of Landers, don't expect anyone to go out of your way to accomodate your religious observance short of letting you get home in time for Shabbos and yuntif. It would be nice, definitely, if they would have gotten you some kosher pizza from J2. But there's no reason to be "pissed" as they don't owe it to you.
ReplyDeleteSorry.
"Unsympathetic" - a) I didn't write the post.
ReplyDeleteb) Never come to this blog (or any) to act like a jerk.
They are trying to social engineer you. It starts with small things, like pepperoni pizza and works from there. Their goal is to make you "get with the program." I, of course, am too old and mean to get with any program, no matter how hard they squeeze. I just get more stubborn. It costs though. Don't think this problem is going to just go away. Like I said, it starts with pepperoni pizza and little things.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my life. Except that it occurs at least once a week.
ReplyDeleteLiorah, I don't think they are trying to social engineer me. Everyone respects me and my observance. Everyone is also Jewish. The problem is they were just not thinking. Its not that I think they owe me anything like Unsimpathetic says, its just that plain curtesy would reason that if the boss is in a mood to feed the ten people in the office, he would not forget about the one that keeps kosher, and instead, order something that we can all enjoy.
ReplyDeleteIf he ordered it from a regular pizza joint he might have figured that you wouldn't eat it, even if it were plain cheese.
ReplyDeletelike i said, we all need to build up our sensitivities.
ReplyDeleteOK, this is indeed puzzling. I got to law school in a *Jesuit* university, and every time we have an eventy - ANY KIND - there's an EQUIVALENT glatt kosher alternative for anyone who needs it. Maybe your boss ordered it in an a hurry and forgot to order the extra kosher pie - that might be one reasonable explanation. Otherwise, I just don't get it. Maybe you could gently hint to him about the misunderstanding so that the problem would be avoided next time?
ReplyDeleteBy us it's worse, the boss orders glatt kosher Pizza and asks random people if they want one right in front of the others he does not ask anything to.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing and discriminating.
Besides I can understand them, kosher Pizza is likely less tasty
That man is soooo disgusting!
ReplyDeleteDid you get a chance to spit on his slice???
Usually it's not the boss who actually picks up the phone to order pizza so perhaps you can mention to the person who makes the call that next time you'd like to be included and would they order you the kosher equivalent from one of the places on a list you provide. If it is the boss who does the ordering then you should note the instances this happens and at a time that seems right point out that you felt left out of the team building process. It seems kind of petty for him not to order you 2 slices of kosher pizza.
ReplyDeleteTrue story:
ReplyDeleteWhen I started working for my present company, my non-Jewish boss called me in and asked about kosher pizza. "Is there such a thing as kosher pizza?", he asked. I thought, "Hmm... I guess he's never been to NYC before.". So, I told him some of the kosher pizza shops here in Toronto and he called them up to see if they delivered to our office (far away from the Jewish community). All expect one refused to deliver that far away, and the one who was willing to do so, wanted an extra $50.
So, now, when we have pizza day, I'm eating my sandwich instead.
There's glatt kosher pizza??
ReplyDeleteThis ties in well with A Simple Jew's recent post.
Hmmmmm... I think we hit on something here. It seems everyone has their own "pizza story"
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to this depends on how much more difficult and/or expensive it would have been to get everyone kosher pizza. If the quality is significantly inferior, the cost much higher, the place a lot further away, etc. - then not only would I not expect them to get kosher, I would be embarrassed and uncomfortable if they did get it. I would feel that others were inconvenienced on my behalf, and on some level I'd even feel responsible for the poor quality.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, I've worked in the "real world" for over two decades now, and maybe 4 or 5 times over those years did I have a group business lunch or dinner at a kosher place. Each time I was so ill at ease that I would have been much happier to be hungry and sipping my coca-cola at a normal (treif) restaurant.
I'm with Elie on that. However, in Hyrax's case (and in mine) it's right there to get and not significantly more expensive (if at all).
ReplyDeleteInteresting other half of your comment, Elie: Are people more uncomfortable eating in Kosher places vs. non-Kosher ones?
I'm the one who's uncomfortable, not my coworkers, AFAICT.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just me, but when a non-kosher-eating group goes to a kosher place just because of me, I always feel like I'm personally responsible for any inferiority in food quality, service, price, ambiance, cleanliness, behavior of other patrons (as per our previous discussion), etc. Maybe this is "projection" as the shrinks call it, but my feelings of discomfort are so deeply ingrained and so intense that it never makes the extra meal worthwhile.
Maybe there are places in NYC which compare favorably to non-kosher restaurants in all the above aspects. But it isn't my usual experience with kosher restaurants.
OTOH at business dinners, I often obtain a kosher packaged meal for myself, with company sanction and at company expense. This allows me to eat along with the group without having to subject them all to our world and its restrictions and foibles.
To me, this is the factor that comes to mind: behavior of other patrons
ReplyDeleteThe others could vary in any restaurant, so I don't think it's any worse than anybody picking a restaurant. [Granted, that could be bad, too, but it's not specifically Jewish.] Behavior, though... I'd feel like bad behavior is a huge chillul Hashem and gives a terrible impression.
Ezzie: Logically I agree, bad food and slow service can happen anywhere. But somehow when they happen to non-kosher eaters whom I shlepped to a kosher restaurant, I feel like the religion is somehow being found wanting, not just the specific eatery. I'm not saying my reaction is 100% rational, but it happens nonetheless.
ReplyDeletePT: Yup, amazing but true!And they have some really good ones, too.
ReplyDeleteas opposed to irina, my school (liu pharmacy) does not generally have kosher food for class functions. this annoys me because it is my tuition that is paying for everyone else's meals.
ReplyDeletebut at work? a boss is under no obligation to go out of his way to get hyrax kosher food. it would be nice. but he does not have to.
liorah: are you kidding? I really doubt it.
mommy: someone had a post recently about how he went on a business trip and the the kosher food he expected was not really kosher. if i remember correctly, when his supervisor found out he made sure to correct what was someone else's error/misunderstanding.
as per the suggestion that the boss order two kosher slice: this is most likely not practical. i live in brooklyn, with a plethora of kosher pizzerias, and i can only think of one that delivers. and they would laugh at you and hang up and if you asked them to deliver two slices.
as per the suggestion that the order for the entire office come from a kosher pizzeria: this would likely be emabarassing. forget about the price difference, as with the pizza we are not talking big bucks. i don't really have anything to compare it to, but even to my "untainted" (trief-wise) pallate kosher pizza is often gross. and i've been told on more than one occasion that kosher pizza is digusting. just a personal story: when my wife was in graduate school her class went out for dinner. to accomodate th 6 or seven religous girls, the entire class went to a kosher chinese restaraunt (on the west side i think). she later told me she was so embarassed because the food was attrocious and way overpriced.
popody's perfect: you're correct. if this is his only job-related gripe he should get over it.
I'm with Holy Hyrax. If Jewish people can't observe their own customs, who will there be left to keep Judaism alive?? HH has a right to be shocked!
ReplyDelete