Are we having fun yet?

Tomorrow's our company outing for the NYC office. We're off to the races at Belmont Park. Each office location organizes its own event. This one was evidently thrown together at the last minute by a committee of three or four people, with complete disregard for transportation issues we many suburbanites face. No alternative ideas were solicited, taken, and put to a vote. We were told "It's Belmont Park. Unless you're on vacation, be there."

There's quite a bit of grumbling about this year's outing among the rank and file. While I appreciate that the company will pay for a group brunch, which is ~$30 per person, and admission to the clubhouse (a mere $5 a head at full rate), I resent the fact that the company is not providing transportation to/from the event. We all have to pay the cost of our own public transportation. It will require three trains from our office to get there, and will take me four from there to get home in the evening.

The talk of the office today was that people were tallying up in their heads what the outing would cost them. If we can all ostensibly fit on the first car of the LIRR train, why can't we all fit in a bus? A bus would have been able to drop off those who needed a major transportation hub to get home at Jamaica station in Queens for the LIRR, Grand Central for Metro North, Port Authority for suburban buses, and Penn Station for Amtrak or NJ Transit.

I figure this will cost the company $35 for me, and me a non-reimbursable $24. That would be $2 for the subway ride up to Penn (I don't commute on the subway and will have to purchase a single-ride ticket), $20 for the round trip LIRR fare, and an additional $2 for the difference in fare zones for taking a NJ Transit train home from NY Penn instead of Hoboken. I could shave it down to a $22 out-of-pocket cost if I walk over to 6th Ave., to catch a PATH train to Hoboken, and catch another train from there--but it will all be highly dependent on the train schedule. My train schedule from Hoboken is far superior to the one an hour from Penn. If I have to wait more than half an hour for the next train, then Hoboken's the better option.

Every other company for which I worked that held a company-wide outing provided transportation to/from the event. My previous employer held the company event on his farm in Bucks County, PA. For the folks in and around NYC or on Long Island/Westchester/Fairfield, a bus was chartered. For those of us who live halfway there, we had the option to drive directly there from home, and not waste the four hour round trip commute to catch the chartered bus. Bob had a really long gravel driveway with plenty of parking space for his Jerseyite employees.

Even the people who do commute via the LIRR were complaining, because Belmont Park isn't on any of their lines. They all have to take the train West all the way back to Jamaica to switch to their regular line, to head East again to get home. What makes it all the worse is that it's not an all day affair, so we leave the office en masse at 10:45. That leaves nobody the option of just arriving on their own, even if they live nearby.

"We're all leaving from the office, and you all have to pay for your own public transportation to a place you really would rather not spend the day. No shorts, jeans, t-shirts, or sneakers allowed. Oh, and have a nice time." That was what we all took away from the email sent by our HR person. If you're going to be really chintzy about the transportation to save money, why bother with the event at all? Nobody wants to go, anyway.