We had a weird thing happen at the place I work. The Corporation that owns
my Company (Sempra Energy, which is a Fortune 500 outfit) said they would
match employee contributions up to $500K in addition to the $750,000 they
gave not in the corporate name, but in the name of our most profitable and
growing subsidiary. Well, many of us that work for Southern California Gas
Company were outraged that the Corp folks would try to seize some "publicity"
for the "favorite child" instead of giving in the name of the corporation as
a whole. It was so self-serving. We rebels (and there were a lot of us)
hatched a plan. We decided to go (in person) to the Red Cross and make our
donations instead of playing this silly game. We realized we might forfeit
the company match, so we all agreed to do that ourselves. So, the people
that planned to give $35 gave $70 and so on and so forth. A lot of protest
emails went to our HR department and my Company quietly asked us for
receipts, then sent a check to the Red Cross, matching ours. I was proud of
all involved.
No regrets,
Coyote Rick
Casa Alegre
Hollywood, California
