The Buck Passing the buck

Image sourced from Google

I have always considered myself as a helpful person, least of all a calculative one, where work is concerned, so much so I am willing to go out of my way to help my colleagues.  Of course, a friend's good gesture should not be taken advantage of because a helping hand is just what it is; a helping hand.  Meaning it comes once in a while and out of the greatness of the doer's heart.

However in some communities (especially small ones) people seem take the generosity and kindness of other people as part and parcel of the things that need to be done, which means the favour done has now become the doer's responsibility.  When confronted about this situation, the person who is supposed to do the work, turns angry and blames you for being calculative and unreasonable!  Even worse, in order to 'redeem' yourself from being calculative, you are asked to take the favour and include it as one of your job specifications!  A real case of the buck passing the buck!

If my history is correct, the term 'passing the buck' is coined based on a poker game.  If that is true, I would gladly accept the buck (in poker, buck refers to the handle of a knife!) and stab it back at the person who gave it to me in the first place.  I guess 'buck' is also an appropriate reference to some one who forces his work on other people; since 'buck' also means a dominant male animal like a male deer for example.

I guess it is fitting that the buck a.k.a the male animal is given back the buck a.k.a knife.  A suitable place for the buck is in the buck's back!  So there!