Your answer was perfectly fine, OP.

Coffee-getting should be an occasional thing, unless it is spelled out in the job description.

I love doing coffee runs if it got me out of the office. So no I didn't want to go down the hall to pour someone a cup of coffee and walk it to his desk. But yes I loved escaping and going out to get coffee or lunch since there was always enough money thrown in for me to get free coffee or lunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the clock, what possible difference does it make to you?

You're getting paid to run those errands. Why do you care?

–says the man.

Not a man. I'm a woman. I worked as a legal assistant before going to college and law school. I'm a lawyer now.

If it's on the firm's time and you're getting paid and it's not infringing on your lunch hour or breaks, what earthly difference does it make to you if you're going to pick-up lunch or if you're preparing documents? You're getting paid the same.

I never minded running errands. It got me out of the office.

of course it doesn't happen in the federal gov. You don't do any work all day regardless, and the admins do NOTHING except talk on the phone or play on their computers.

^ I worked.

I worke as an office assistant back in my college days. The boss would have me make him coffee and bring it to him. One day, he yelled down the hall, "where is my coffee lady?" It was really embarrassing for me. He would also pick up a bunch of snacks for the office (which was nice) but would call me when he was parking so that I would meet him outside and carry the snacks in (in a rolling cart). I also had to mail packages for his wife. None of these duties were in my job description. To the poster who asks why it matters because I was getting paid, it's freaking demoralizing. I felt like a maid, and there were days that I would come home crying. Thank God I've moved on

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the clock, what possible difference does it make to you?

You're getting paid to run those errands. Why do you care?

–says the man.

And while you're at it, how about a blow job on the side?

Depends on what kind of an assistant you are. Someone's personal assistant? Yeah, I'd expect to be getting coffee and lunch so that the person could keep working. Assistant to a group of people? No, I wouldn't be running one person's personal errands.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't happen in the fed gov.

Not a chance. Make copies, yes. Grab coffee or run any other stupid personal errand, not happening....

Anonymous wrote:BS

You people watch too much tv. This doesn't happen in real life anymore.

You don't think assistants get their bosses lunch anymore? They most certainly do. I worked for a TV host who sent his admin out for a steak from the Palm every day. Of course, he was 80 years old and also thought ogling his female writers was a perk of the job. And occasionally smacking a male employee.

If you're asked to get coffee for some one and it really is not part of the job, there are ways to say no politely, like "Oh, are you looking for [your personal assistant]? I'll let her know you were asking for her." If it's some one not senior enough to have their own personal assistant, then I see nothing wrong with saying "Oh, I already got mine for the day, but I bet the line's not long now if you wanted to go down to the shop." or "Sorry, really swamped with work for the boss."

When working as an analyst, the guy below my boss who didn't seem to like that women now occupied non-admin roles (and he had no reservations about telling me about it), asked me to do basic admin work for him - faxing documents, photocopying etc. I just replied "Oh, is [secretary] not at her desk? Sure, I'll hand it to her next time I see her but I don't think I'll run into her until tomorrow, so if you want this rushed, probably best to give her a call."

Is it an admin job? Then I'd assume that running some errands are part of the job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the clock, what possible difference does it make to you?

You're getting paid to run those errands. Why do you care?

–says the man.

But it's accurate - that is the gig. If I have a an assistant that works only for me - do whatever I need done so that I can focus on what I need to do, like running the business so that I can pay an assistant's salary.

Anonymous wrote:If you are on the clock, what possible difference does it make to you?

You're getting paid to run those errands. Why do you care?

Because I also have other things to do. If I only worked for one person, I'd mind less, but I have to balance my workload and spending half an hour going to Starbucks screws up the balance.