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My office wanted to support us. So they bought us turtles
Ask a Manager: "my office got us turtles to take care of and bring home on weekends"
https://www.askamanager.org/2021/09/my-office-got-us-turtles-to-take-care-of-and-bring-home-on-weekends.html#comments
A reader writes:
I work for a nonprofit and Covid has been very stressful for us. We are understaffed, overworked and underpaid, like many nonprofits. But recently our president announced something that is suppose to “bring staff together”: they got every office a turtle to keep and take care of.
A little back story: our president does not like being told no or getting any pushback from the staff. So it has created this odd environment of staff members praising her terrible ideas, while in actuality the staff is unhappy. I don’t work in the same office as the president, so the bad ideas usually don’t affect my day-to-day job. Plus I work in an amazing department with very supportive supervisors.
Even though no one will say anything, no one I have talked to is happy about the turtle. It creates more work for everyone and we’re already super busy. Also turtles carry thousands of diseases, including salmonella, and live to be 50 years old. During her announcement, the president mentioned that staff is expected to take the turtle home on weekends and holidays.
I do not want to take this turtle home. I have other pets at home, and I live with a sick mom who could potentially die if she contacted salmonella. Also, I did not sign up to be a turtle caregiver when I took this job. My direct supervisor is very supportive and also does not want to take the turtle home. But I know it’s going to be pointed out that we have not brought him home. (Our president is very big on calling staff out and putting them on the spot.) So I guess I’m asking, how do I set clear boundaries that I am not taking the turtle home without screwing over my coworkers or pissing off the president?
I just need to repeat it: Your organization got every office a turtle to care for and take home on weekends “to bring staff together.”
WTF.
Instead of addressing the understaffing, overwork, or low pay, they got you turtles to somehow smooth everything over. That would be absurd on its own, before you even get to the added work of caring for the turtles and the intrusion into your off hours.
But more importantly, this is bad for the turtles! Turtles are happier in their natural homes in the wild, and they’re social animals who prefer living in a group (of other turtles, not of office workers). They also have very specific needs, like controlled temperatures, heat lamps, water to swim in, a varied diet — is your office providing all that? Is each person who takes them home providing that?
I feel bad for all of you, but I feel worse for the turtles. I urge you in the strongest of terms to contact a local animal rescue group, explain what’s going on, and see if they can intervene. They almost certainly could do it without revealing who contacted them.
Alternately, you could try getting a group of colleagues together to push back on this, explaining your concerns about the turtles’ welfare and your inability to provide the care they need at your houses. I get that your coworkers have learned not to speak up about anything because your president doesn’t like it — but this isn’t “we’re using a confusing graphic on this mailing” or “we really don’t need these biweekly staff meetings.” It’s “we are causing harm to living creatures.” There’s a much higher moral imperative to speak up, and I hope you can convince them of that. If you can’t, then you’re back to needing to contact an animal rescue group.
Meanwhile, though, if you’re asked why you’re not taking the turtle home on weekends, just be very matter-of-fact that it’s not possible with your home-set up: “Oh, I can’t — I don’t have the right space, and my mom is sick and could die if she’s exposed to salmonella — that’s obviously not a risk I can take.” Say it very matter-of-factly, as if of course whoever you’re talking to will immediately agree now that they’ve heard these facts. As bad as your president’s judgment seems to be, she’s still very unlikely to respond to that by telling you that no, you need to risk your mother’s life.
If you didn’t have that situation with your mom, you could use a similar strategy with other facts — “Oh, I can’t — my house is really unsafe for a turtle.” “Oh, I can’t — I’m almost never home on the weekends and couldn’t do the necessary care.” Or, frankly, even, “Oh, I can’t — this is a bad set-up for the turtles and I don’t feel right about it.”
Or if you have a spouse or roommate, you can also blame them — “Bob said absolutely not” — that is part of the benefit of having them. Same with landlords or homeowners associations. There’s very little your boss can do about “it would violate our lease.”
But please contact a local animal group about what’s going on. Those turtles cannot speak for themselves and need you to speak for them.
https://www.askamanager.org/2021/09/my-office-got-us-turtles-to-take-care-of-and-bring-home-on-weekends.html#comments
A reader writes:
I work for a nonprofit and Covid has been very stressful for us. We are understaffed, overworked and underpaid, like many nonprofits. But recently our president announced something that is suppose to “bring staff together”: they got every office a turtle to keep and take care of.
A little back story: our president does not like being told no or getting any pushback from the staff. So it has created this odd environment of staff members praising her terrible ideas, while in actuality the staff is unhappy. I don’t work in the same office as the president, so the bad ideas usually don’t affect my day-to-day job. Plus I work in an amazing department with very supportive supervisors.
Even though no one will say anything, no one I have talked to is happy about the turtle. It creates more work for everyone and we’re already super busy. Also turtles carry thousands of diseases, including salmonella, and live to be 50 years old. During her announcement, the president mentioned that staff is expected to take the turtle home on weekends and holidays.
I do not want to take this turtle home. I have other pets at home, and I live with a sick mom who could potentially die if she contacted salmonella. Also, I did not sign up to be a turtle caregiver when I took this job. My direct supervisor is very supportive and also does not want to take the turtle home. But I know it’s going to be pointed out that we have not brought him home. (Our president is very big on calling staff out and putting them on the spot.) So I guess I’m asking, how do I set clear boundaries that I am not taking the turtle home without screwing over my coworkers or pissing off the president?
I just need to repeat it: Your organization got every office a turtle to care for and take home on weekends “to bring staff together.”
WTF.
Instead of addressing the understaffing, overwork, or low pay, they got you turtles to somehow smooth everything over. That would be absurd on its own, before you even get to the added work of caring for the turtles and the intrusion into your off hours.
But more importantly, this is bad for the turtles! Turtles are happier in their natural homes in the wild, and they’re social animals who prefer living in a group (of other turtles, not of office workers). They also have very specific needs, like controlled temperatures, heat lamps, water to swim in, a varied diet — is your office providing all that? Is each person who takes them home providing that?
I feel bad for all of you, but I feel worse for the turtles. I urge you in the strongest of terms to contact a local animal rescue group, explain what’s going on, and see if they can intervene. They almost certainly could do it without revealing who contacted them.
Alternately, you could try getting a group of colleagues together to push back on this, explaining your concerns about the turtles’ welfare and your inability to provide the care they need at your houses. I get that your coworkers have learned not to speak up about anything because your president doesn’t like it — but this isn’t “we’re using a confusing graphic on this mailing” or “we really don’t need these biweekly staff meetings.” It’s “we are causing harm to living creatures.” There’s a much higher moral imperative to speak up, and I hope you can convince them of that. If you can’t, then you’re back to needing to contact an animal rescue group.
Meanwhile, though, if you’re asked why you’re not taking the turtle home on weekends, just be very matter-of-fact that it’s not possible with your home-set up: “Oh, I can’t — I don’t have the right space, and my mom is sick and could die if she’s exposed to salmonella — that’s obviously not a risk I can take.” Say it very matter-of-factly, as if of course whoever you’re talking to will immediately agree now that they’ve heard these facts. As bad as your president’s judgment seems to be, she’s still very unlikely to respond to that by telling you that no, you need to risk your mother’s life.
If you didn’t have that situation with your mom, you could use a similar strategy with other facts — “Oh, I can’t — my house is really unsafe for a turtle.” “Oh, I can’t — I’m almost never home on the weekends and couldn’t do the necessary care.” Or, frankly, even, “Oh, I can’t — this is a bad set-up for the turtles and I don’t feel right about it.”
Or if you have a spouse or roommate, you can also blame them — “Bob said absolutely not” — that is part of the benefit of having them. Same with landlords or homeowners associations. There’s very little your boss can do about “it would violate our lease.”
But please contact a local animal group about what’s going on. Those turtles cannot speak for themselves and need you to speak for them.