Mail Snack Boxes

I work in an office that sells paper and other office products and the job is pretty boring. Most of it is desk work and the time goes by really slowly, especially on Fridays. Our boss, Joe, tries to keep things fun by making jokes, playing stupid games, and making bets. He's always trying to bet on something, whether it's the outcome of whatever sports game is on at the time, a card game, or even a silly arm wrestle duel. Most of the time, the other office workers and I ignore it, but we found out not too long ago that our boss' gambling habits were more serious than we thought. He owes a lot of money to loan sharks, which makes the new office raffle he just announced make more sense.

The other employees and I started gathering in the break room to talk about what items would be available for the raffle. I didn't care about paying off my boss' gambling debts if I could get something good out of the deal. One employee suggested our boss was going to give away free office supplies and we all laughed. But then I remembered I had seen a catalog for mail snack boxes on his desk, like for those snack box gifts they mail every month with snacks and candy from different countries. So I said to the group, "What about a snack box subscription? Do you think Joe would do one of those snack subscription box things?"

The room grew quiet for a moment while everyone considered the idea. It seemed like something Joe would be into; after all, he was an eccentric kind of guy with a penchant for surprises. I told the team about the catalog on his desk and everyone started to make their minds up.

As the idea for the raffle being for a snack box subscription grew, we all started to wonder what kind of snack box delivery Joe might choose. The catalog looked like it was for an International snack box, but I actually didn't get a very good look at it. I only saw the cover as I moved it aside to put a few papers on his desk for him to review before leaving work that day. The other employees started asking me questions about the snack boxes all at the same time. I could barely hear myself think in between shouts of "Was the catalog for snack subscription boxes UK, or another country?" and "What kind of snacks do you think come in those boxes?"

After a few minutes passed, I yelled at everyone to quiet down. First of all, Joe was going to be back from his lunch break any minute and we didn't need to carry on like that. Second, we had no proof there was going to be an International snack box, no subscription evidence, nothing. We couldn't be sure that a snack box subscription was really going to be what the raffle was for.

At that moment, Joe came back into the office from lunch and everyone in the break room quieted down. Joe entered, and we could still hear whispers about food subscription boxes before someone loudly shushed. Of course, Joe looked around the room and knew we were talking about him. I decided to make it as least awkward as I could.

"Hey Joe, we were all just talking about your new raffle and how many tickets each of us were going to buy. We think you might have some pretty cool stuff to give away and we're interested," I said.

Joe's face broke out into a beaming smile as he pulled a fistful of tickets out of his pocket. "$10 each!" he shouted. The other employees and I looked at each other, still silently wondering if we were right about the customizable snack box idea or if monthly snack subscription boxes were the last thing on Joe's mind. Was he raffling away a healthy snack box subscription or something else entirely? It seemed myself and the employees had already decided; we too were reaching into our pockets for money to purchase as many raffle tickets as we could.

Once everyone had purchased their raffle tickets, we headed back to our desks. Joe went to his office and started gleefully counting his money before placing it in one of those thick, zippered bank bags, presumably so he could go make a deposit into his checking account with our raffle money.

"Okay everyone, I'm heading out to go get the raffle prizes!" Joe exclaimed as he started to put his jacket back on and collect his keys. We all exchanged surprised looks; how fast could he get a snack box? Amazon delivers pretty quickly, but had he already ordered it? Myself and all the other team members were confused, but we couldn't say anything without giving away that we thought Joe's raffle prize was possibly an Amazon snack box, healthy or not.

We worked in near silence for the next 20 or so minutes, until Joe arrived again with a large garbage sack slung over his shoulder. My heart sank and by looking at the other employees, I could tell theirs had too. The best snack boxes on Amazon were definitely not in that bag. We were almost afraid to see what it was; after all, the raffle tickets weren't cheap.

All our hopes went out the windows as Joe opened up his garbage sack and pulled out old lamps, books with bent covers, chipped dishware, and not one custom snack box gift. When he finished unloading his goods, Joe looked up to see our shocked faces. It was clear that snack box gift ideas -- or any other decent raffle item -- had entered his mind when he threw this terrible money-making scheme together. In fact, it looked like a trash sack he filled from his garage and brought to work. Which is exactly what he admitted to doing just a few minutes later.

I was going to let it go since I'd only bought one ticket, but some of the other employees got pretty upset and started asking questions. "Hey, what about that catalog on your desk with the best snack gift boxes?" or "Where did you get all this from, out of the dump?" The realization that we'd seen the food subscription box magazine dawned on him and his face turned red from embarrassment. Now that it was clear that the raffle was a complete bust, the entire office broke out into loud arguments with Joe at the center of it all.

Once Joe realized he'd accidentally set it up to look like the raffle was going to be for a graze snack box and brought broken junk items instead, he knew he'd made a mistake.

"Listen, I was going to get graze boxes delivered for the holidays. I...I...was planning to give each of you a graze box subscription that you could enjoy all year long. I know how much you...you like graze snacks!" Joe cried. But the employees weren't having it.

"We want our money back," one team member said. "Yeah! What did you do with the money we bought the tickets with? Give it back!" The employees started cheering. Joe's face fell and I already knew what his answer was going to be. He had thousands of dollars in gambling debt and he'd already given the money to his loan shark.

Once Joe explained himself, the team decided to give him an ultimatum. Having graze boxes delivered would have been nice, but this could be a sweeter deal. We agreed not to report Joe to the authorities if he agreed to go to Gambler's Anonymous and get therapy for his gambling addiction.

Each of the employees took turns driving Joe to his weekly GA meetings and, since then, Joe hasn't made a single bet. We're not sure if he's afraid we'll report him or if he's genuinely committed to staying away from gambling, but either way, the end result is a better boss.

It turns out that Joe was telling the truth about getting the employees a subscription for candy from around the world, but he couldn't afford it. We knew that there were so many different kinds of snack boxes out there that we could help him find one that was both fun and affordable. We all looked at options for a one-time snack box and an International snack box (one-time purchase), and eventually decided on a $1 snack box for everybody.

Although this situation could have turned out badly for everyone, we all ended up managing to make it work by working together. As annoying as Joe can be in the office, we wanted to help him. And I have to say, ever since this mishap, Joe has been 100 times better to work with in the office. I even started hanging out with him after work and would consider him a friend.