Long story short;
I’ve received an email from a colleague asking me to pop into her office and sign a card and contribute some money towards a collection for a member of staff that I have never met and most likely will never meet who will be going off on maternity leave in a few weeks.
I rarely see any other colleagues in my department, I’m just left to my own devices with the permanent team avoiding me (and others with my job role) and not being open to conversation or suggestions we could chat over a break or lunch once every couple of months. It’s pretty lonely. The job is very poorly paid and basically a zero hours contract.
I’d even feel weird about signing a card given that I’ve never met this woman.
I also have another job on the side and have frequently contributed a lot of money towards baby gifts, major birthdays, celebrations etc but have never once received even a card. I’ve worked there almost five years. I’m single and a bit of an Eleanor Oliphant (read giant lonely loser lol). I feel I give so regularly especially given that I’m on a limited income and never have it reciprocated and it seems a bit ridiculous to now expect to be giving money to someone I’ve never even seen before.
How unreasonable would it be to opt out of this kind of thing?