Co-worker asking for my birthday

[Anonymous]

I like the way we celebrate birthdays at my office.

We have weekly staff meetings. At the first one each month, our VP gives a little shout-out to the people who have birthdays that month. ("Let's all give a little shout-out to our March birthdays -- Dan, Meghan, Luke, and Jasmine. Happy Birthday everyone." We all give a little applause and say Happy Birthday.) (The VP's admin prepares the list for him, so none of us know the exact date of the birthdays. And of course no one has to disclose their age -- we have a range of ages in our office from 29 to 54.)

That's it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They just want an excuse for cake. I think you can just say, “Thanks so much! But I’d prefer not to have my birthday on the calendar.” Then immediately pivot to talking about something else.

100% cake. We do birthday snacks and birthday person chooses snack. No cards, balloons, etc. Absolutely no singing. And we're lucky if we get within a week or two.
It's fine with me if people make up a birthday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I think if you refuse you will come off as unhinged, sorry. What happened on your birthday to make it si negative? What will happen if people wish you a happy birthday?

It could be for religious reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I think if you refuse you will come off as unhinged, sorry. What happened on your birthday to make it si negative? What will happen if people wish you a happy birthday?

+1. If you must, just say “I don’t like to be the center of attention, but so sweet of you to think of me!”

That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I like the way we celebrate birthdays at my office.

We have weekly staff meetings. At the first one each month, our VP gives a little shout-out to the people who have birthdays that month. ("Let's all give a little shout-out to our March birthdays -- Dan, Meghan, Luke, and Jasmine. Happy Birthday everyone." We all give a little applause and say Happy Birthday.) (The VP's admin prepares the list for him, so none of us know the exact date of the birthdays. And of course no one has to disclose their age -- we have a range of ages in our office from 29 to 54.)

That's it!

You certainly know the age range in your office with a lot of specificity, considering that “no one has to disclose their age.”

[Anonymous]

Yeah, at my law firm an email is sent firm wide listing all the birthdays coming the following month. I just said "I like to keep my birthday private, so please don't add mine to the list."

I guarantee you're thinking about it more than the coworker, OP. And if there are 25 people or more, you're not the only one who feels this way.

[Anonymous]

No one shares the year they were born, just the month and day.

[Anonymous]

I would judge someone who refuses to share their birthday more harshly than the “birthday people”, though I find them extremely annoying and don’t care if it’s someone’s birthday or if people know mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the birthday person in my office. Would you be okay with some kind of private recognition, such as an e-giftcard?

Just stop the nonsense.

100%

No need for this goofy shit in a professional setting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I never ever let them know. And request HR not reveal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the birthday person in my office. Would you be okay with some kind of private recognition, such as an e-giftcard?

No. You want to buy a gift, company pays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Thanks for the thought, but I don’t want my birthday shared on the team calendar.”

Jehovah Witness?

My company we ask if on your birthday would you like is to order lunch from restaurant of you choice on birthday and we invite any peers you want to attend and we buy them lunch to. We don’t ask your birthday as we already know it.

We don’t publish it and optional. It is called being human. I don’t track who does it or not. I got a capital grill steak with cheesecake my birthday and invited 5-6 people who were nice to me during year

Very clever. By asking where they want to go for lunch you make it clear they can't take the day off. I hope at least on that day you don't make them badge out for lunch, let them have an extra 15 minutes and maybe even allow a personal phone call at their desk.

What's so horrible about being treated nicely on your birthday?

It’s a coercive not to mention low class behavior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the collector of birthdays and help organize all the e-birthday cards. I've had to ask several people for their bdays. Idk what I'd think if someone just said "no thank you". I guess one less card to organize? Its not a big deal either way, the company just puts a big push on recognition/appreciation but if you dont want it, you dont want it.

I really have a low low opinion of busybodies like you. And I’m a boss

[Anonymous]

I ended up getting an uncomfortable gift from the office for my birthday. I won't sharw it ever again. I think there are appropriate ways to handle birthdays but people can also just make you uncomfortable. Then they just ruin your birthday. I actually haven't felt the same way about my birthday since and always make sure I am not at work that day or even the day after.

[Anonymous]

Corporate jobs are terrible for doing this kind of crap.