3 ms·

It's probably just a personal thing. I'm in Europe and always take my birthday off - I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday. Even i

by kjakm 6y ago

It's probably just a personal thing. I'm in Europe and always take my birthday off - I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday. Even if I don't have plans to celebrate until the weekend the idea of working on my birthday is very depressing (in fact in rarely celebrate my birthday and if I do it's something small like dinner with a couple of friends). To be honest I thought it would be more prevalent in Europe given we seem to get more time off and taking time off is less 'frowned upon' (at least this is my experience compared with my US based colleagues).

Reason077 6y ago
> "I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday." Well, if you're lucky, your co-workers will chip in and buy a cake!
- onehp 6y ago
  In all the work environments I've been in (UK) the culture is the opposite, as the birthday person you are expected to bring in cake.
  - danpalmer 6y ago
    And I've had exactly the opposite experience in the UK. I think this depends entirely on the workplace.
  - Reason077 6y ago
    In that case, I'd be trying to keep my birthday a secret!
    - inglor_cz 6y ago
      "I wasn't born. I just ... slowly coalesced over a year or so, just like celestial bodies do."
  - oblio 6y ago
    Yeah. I've worked in multiple places in Europe and people except you to bring a cake or something. They might pitch in and buy you a small present, in return. But they definitely expect you to bring a cake or at least some sweets.
pedro596 6y ago
I'm from Europe and in my past job my team had the tradition of having cake bought or baked by the guy celebrating his birthday.
brmgb 6y ago
> I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday. I personally was under the impression that once you left childhood and the impatience of getting presents your birthday pretty much became just a day as usual. That also seems to be how my college treats it but it might be cultural. Europe is not a homogeneous place.

by kjakm 6y ago

Reason077 6y ago

> "I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday." Well, if you're lucky, your co-workers will chip in and buy a cake!

onehp 6y ago
In all the work environments I've been in (UK) the culture is the opposite, as the birthday person you are expected to bring in cake.
- danpalmer 6y ago
  And I've had exactly the opposite experience in the UK. I think this depends entirely on the workplace.
- Reason077 6y ago
  In that case, I'd be trying to keep my birthday a secret!
  - inglor_cz 6y ago
    "I wasn't born. I just ... slowly coalesced over a year or so, just like celestial bodies do."
- oblio 6y ago
  Yeah. I've worked in multiple places in Europe and people except you to bring a cake or something. They might pitch in and buy you a small present, in return. But they definitely expect you to bring a cake or at least some sweets.

pedro596 6y ago

I'm from Europe and in my past job my team had the tradition of having cake bought or baked by the guy celebrating his birthday.

brmgb 6y ago

> I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday. I personally was under the impression that once you left childhood and the impatience of getting presents your birthday pretty much became just a day as usual. That also seems to be how my college treats it but it might be cultural. Europe is not a homogeneous place.