This time of year companies all over the region are receiving special little gifts and packages from their vendors as a way of saying “Happy Holidays” and “Keep the Business Coming.”  If you work for any kind of business that pays for a service or refers customers to another company, you know what I’m talking about.  Fruit baskets, those tri-chambered tins of popcorn, boxes of candy seem to pop up all over the office.  I once worked for a company that received a 20-pound honey-baked ham from a vendor.  That worked out to about a three quarters of a pound per employee.  In fact, that company received so much in the way of food, that I could go two or three weeks without packing a lunch.

Even here at WHYY, divisions of the company receive these same token gifts.*  The newsroom tends to get left out unless you count faxed press releases with special holiday-themed cover sheets as a gift.  Fortunately, other divisions share their goodies such that I’ve been munching on white chocolate-covered pretzels all day.

If I worked for the city, however, it seems that I would have to forgo these sweet little treats.  At least, if I’m reading this letter from the mayor, found on the front page of Phila.gov, correctly:

Specifically, the Executive Order prohibits acceptance of anything of value from a person or entity with whom your relationship is based on because of your City employment.  This includes:

• Gifts
• Cash
• Gift cards
• Invitations to parties
• Tickets to cultural or sporting events
• Food or drink
• Services
• Loans at more favorable terms than customary

Setting aside for the moment my problems with the grammatical construction of the phrase “with whom your relationship is based on because of your City employment,” it does seem that those chocolate-covered pretzels that I’ve been enjoying do fall in the category of “gifts,” “food or drink,” “anything of value.”  (I value them very much.)  So, before anyone starts commenting about how generous the pension plan for city employees is or how great their health benefits are, consider the holiday-time sacrifice that they must make in the name of ethical government.

To be safe, the mayor also has a letter for vendors, lest any of them be tempted to order up an “Edible Arrangement” for their favorite building code inspector.

Consider this a fun, open thread, sort of the same as Stephanie’s earlier call for a your ideas for a Philly Cutback Sandwich.  Tell us the best gifts that your company has received from vendors or grateful clients.  If you’re a city employee, feel free to vent here while the rest of us enjoy our caramel covered popcorn.

*WHYY also has a strict gift policy which spells out quite clearly who can accept what, what they can accept and the spirit behind such regulations.