I was putting up a post on a friend’s Facebook wall to wish him a happy birthday when I realized how impersonal and automated the whole process has become. Facebook reminds me that it is so and so’s birthday and would I like to wish him? It then directs me to the appropriate person’s wall and prompts me to type a message. My mobile keyboard remembers the appropriate word sequence once I type ‘Happy’, and all I have to do is accept the complete sentence followed by my friend’s name to make it look personal.
The whole system reminded me of a CO who insisted that every bachelor on his birthday and every married officer on his anniversary must get a Unit sponsored gift. Most of the time people already have everything they needed and a gift is therefore something useless.
The Adjutant and the rest of the Unit Officers came out with a solution to keep the CO happy. On every occasion they pooled the money (usually deducted from the ‘Tea Club’ account) and gave the concerned Officer a lump sum of money to do what he felt like (something like a kitty) and at the evening party a neatly wrapped box with some trash was handed over to the Officer.
The CO was happy because he was under the impression that the Officer was getting something he liked or desired to have and everybody else was happy since no nerve racking brainstorming or shopping was involved. The Officer was happy because he had some extra spending money… of course I wondered what would happen to the Adjutant if the CO ever found out!!