Company charges $18 for 'free' employee appreciation lunch without warning: 'I just find it ridiculous that a company can turn a thank you into something you owe them for'

They say that there's no such thing as a free lunch. I've found that to be utterly true over the course of my life. You're always sacrificing something, whether it's time, money, or a favor to someone. This is why some of us are skeptical about free things. Sometimes there is a hidden cost, and then you wish you hadn't said yes to it in the first place. This is why this employee felt a little strange after they accepted a work lunch and then found out the real cost behind it.

The best companies know how to make their employees feel appreciated. They know how to let their employees know that they're doing a good job and should be proud of themselves. There are so many different ways to do this, and each has different results. There are also equal ways that companies can make their employees feel disrespected or disenfranchised. You might start to lose your zest for work if you don't feel like you're being treated well in the workplace. You just might feel like you need a little something to keep you going, whether that's money, recognition, or the chance to move up. But sometimes, a pizza party will do.

Free food is a great tactic to get people on your side. Humans are simple creatures. At the end of the day, we want a snack, and we don't want to pay for it. I know that's the quickest, simplest way to my heart. And if that happens at work, then all the better. There's nothing like the promise of something delicious to eat to break up the day and give you something to look forward to. But the employee in this story didn't quite experience that. Their workplace insisted on making their employees pay for this experience, even though they didn't let them know that ahead of time. So they were left feeling weirded out and disrespected. Keep reading for more of this story and see what commenters had to say about it.