The boss gave away jars of pickles his mother had made, and the whole office laughed.

Our boss, Alejandro Torres, stood awkwardly at the meeting room door.

“It’s just something my mother sent from her village,” he said. “Nothing special.”

For a moment, the room was quiet.

Then came the comments.

“Who even eats this anymore?”
“This is going straight in the trash.”
“They should’ve just given us gift cards.”

The laughter spread quickly.