Okay, so a coworker's parent dies, and the office sends the coworker a flower basket, for which another coworker pays on her credit card. After the fact, the office manager asks everyone if they will contribute to the cost of the flower basket. With twelve contributors, it would be five dollars apiece. I write back and say, sure, I'll kick in five bucks, as do a few other folks.

However, the office manager writes back to say, "Don't pay yet. First we have to see how many people are willing to contribute. Then we'll split it up."

Well, sorry, but I signed on for five bucks. I'm not paying some arbitrary higher amount to carry the asses of the freeloaders. Or am I being unreasonable?