Office politics can be complicated.

Like in this story, where an attempt at a nice birthday gesture goes sideways.

Let’s blow out the candles on this one.

AITAH for refusing to chip in for a coworker’s birthday gift because I’ve never even spoken to them?

Someone in the office started a group chat asking everyone to pitch in $20 for a birthday gift for a guy on another team.

Nice enough, what’s the catch?

I’ve literally never spoken to him. Don’t know what he looks like. We don’t even share a Slack channel.

Oh I see.

I said, “No thanks, I’ll sit this one out,” and left the group. Now a few people are calling me cold and saying, “It’s about the gesture, not the person.”

But maybe not everyone feels the same?

AITAH for not wanting to pay for a gift for someone I don’t even know?

Was this a nice no or ice cold?

What do the comments think?

This person says, what goes around does not always come around.

Someone else says, who was in charge of budgeting here?

Another person is like, I get it but no.

Another person says, this isn’t busking.

This poster invokes the golden rule.

Hard to ignore the white elephant in this room.

She’s not doing it.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.