ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2008 > July > 15 > Entry
Is your office kitchen a toxic wasteland?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The AJC recently ran a story about office kitchen etiquette. The article includes tips on how to be courteous and polite when using the office kitchen.
But anyone that’s ever worked in an office environment knows that there are always a few people that don’t play by the rules. At every company I’ve ever worked for, there has always been food stealing. It’s one thing if you accidentally grabbed the wrong Lean Cuisine out of the freezer, but come on, you know if you did or didn’t make homemade chili last night. And can we just ban people putting soda cans in the freezer? No one ever remembers to get it out before it explodes all over creation, and then the offenders never clean it up!
So if you’ve ever been annoyed by your messy, lazy and sloppy co-workers, here’s your chance to vent. We want to hear about your pet peeves with your office kitchen. Are people messy? Do they cut in front of you in the microwave line? Do they take the last of the coffee and not make another pot? Is your cubicle neighbor determined to eat stinky foods at his desk? Let us know if your office kitchen is more of a pain than a perk.
Comments
By JJ
July 15, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this
It drives me CRAZY that people cannot put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. It’s less than 6 inches from the sink, but for some reason, dirty dishes get left in the sink.
I don’t understand the mentality. “I’m going to eat my lunch here, use the dishes in the cabinets, then just leave everything in the sink for someone else to clean up.” Our bookkeeper is the worst!!! She sits right next to the kitchen, and hears me b*** about the mess, and she blantently leaves her dishes in the sink.
I wonder how my co-worker’s homes look????
I refuse to clean up another adult’s dirty dishes. I don’t eat here at the office, I go out every day. I use my own coffee cup and water glass I brought from home. I clean them out every day before I go home.
The tray to our toaster oven lives in the sink. One person uses it, and leaves it there. It has officially been in the sink for 3 weeks now………and the offender knows, but does nothing about it.
GROSS!!!!!
By lovelyliz
July 15, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
The last place I worked had a break room complete with coffee machine, microwave, full size frig and a small sink. It was also an office dominated by men, and married men at that. There were only two women on staff.
Guess who ended up doing all the breakroom cleanup? Hint: it was a she
I don’t know if these guys lived liked slobs sat home or that they forgot their mothers and wives weren’t there to clean up after them, but I swear they thought the microwave was self cleaning and therefore didn’t require they cover their food when they used it and that the cleaning fairies came in at night and washed all the dishes they left in the sink.
By jg
July 15, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
We have turned our office nastiness into a fun game….we actually volunteer to clean out the refrigerator - Rule #1 is - if it is not labeled it will be thrown out - Rule #2 is if it is labeled and it has expired we bring it to your desk and tell you to eat it!
I also cannot stand those who are too important to make coffee - they will take the last bit of coffee and won’t start a new pot.
By Old School
July 15, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this
I teach in a vocational center that has a workroom/break area for the instructors. Several years ago we had a nursing instructor (a REGISTERED NURSE mind you) who would dump her leftover food into the sink. It was an ordinary sink with no disposal. Almost daily she was more interested in what the rest of us brought for lunch and insisted on taking a taste…no matter how we twisted and turned to avoid her. Worst of all, she seldom flushed the toilet but she did wash her hands…whoopee.
My lab is now on a different wing of the school and for the most part, our little workroom is clean. We have a unisex restroom and the male teachers are also coaches so I added a message on the underside of the toilet seat, “Your mom taught you better! Put the seat down when you finish and wash your hands before you leave! The ladies thank you!”
It works nicely!
By GeoffDawg
July 15, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this
We have the same problem with coffee. I don’t know how many times I’ve needed a fix only to hear that dreaded “whoosh” sound from the carafe indicating it’s empty.
Beyond that, I don’t bring much food to put into the common fridge but the worst story I ever heard was someone who forgot they left a shrimp salad in there overnight. They discovered the next day that someone had uncovered the salad, picked out all the shrimp, recovered the salad, and put it back into the fridge. Sometimes you wonder if this is a mental health issue with some people.
By mm
July 15, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
I’m sure that every office has their share of people who don’t know better (or those that do know better but are just plain lazy). The above blog states reasons why I DO NOT use the office refridgerator. I keep my lunch at my desk where I can see it. And if I need to keep it cool I buy those reusable ice packs to keep in my lunch bag. I do have a huge trust factor when it comes to my personal belongings. If I cannot carry it in my lunch bag then it may as well stay at home.
By Frosting
July 15, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
I once made a cake for a co-worker’s birthday & put a note on the cake with her name on it,put it in the refrig - came back into the kitchen & someone had opened up the cake and took their finger to taste. I wrote a note that they were nasty and not raised correctly and if they would have asked i would have made them a cake - the person then took their hand and grabbed a chunk of cake off the cake…..HR got involved and said if they caught the person they could face termination!
By GeoffDawg
July 15, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Ugh, that’s disgusting Frosting. That’s the kind of person that wouldn’t wash their hands after using the restroom either. I hope you surgically removed the affected portion before serving it.
By Sugar
July 15, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
I’m glad I work in a small office.
But I know the bottom of the coffee pot story VERY well. My boss actually went and drained the caraf into his cup, and when I asked him if he was going to make more, he simply looked at me and said NO.
Now I run two pots of coffee every morning.
By Mo's Mom
July 15, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
THE OFFICE REFRIGERATOR
This is a public service announcement to everyone who uses the refrigerator at the office. I have noticed the following and would like to propose an amicable solution so that we can all go back to pretending to get along with each other.
The office refrigerator is not your personal space to store your 20 frozen meals because you’re too lazy to bring one from home every day. There’s 50 people sharing one fridge, and many of us bring lunch to work and would like a place to put it. Please bring your �Smart Ones� (an oxymoron for you if I have ever heard one), one at a time like the rest of us.
There’s a machine just down the hall with lots of cold beverages. Please get your bottles of water and pop out of the fridge. If you are wondering why some of them disappear occasionally, now you know. I was thirsty. That goes for you too oversized Brita pitcher lady.
Putting your name on things. I’m guessing this came from your college days where your deadbeat roommate would eat anything in the fridge and not pay you for half of it. I don’t care how many times you put your name on that sandwich in the fridge. If it’s there for more than a week, it’s going in the trash. If you are a repeat offender, I might trash it after a day just for the fun of listening to you complain to everyone in the office about how someone keeps stealing your lunch.
Speaking of things left for more than a week, there are science experiments going on with certain things in the fridge. A fun experiment would be forcing you to eat whatever is in there. Alas, if you are looking for the person who threw away your prized Tupperware, it was me. There’s no chance I am cleaning it for you - get your stuff out of the fridge.
I know you had a wonderful time in Rome/Greece/Spain/London/Whereveristan, and I know it made you smile sending us that postcard from there while we were stuck here at office, but we don�t need reminder of your wonderful trip on the front of the refrigerator for months after you�re back. I hear they like to say arse over there � that�s where your postcard can go.
The front of the fridge is also not a place to post your little funny anecdotes, NY Times articles, Dilbert cartoons and Digg printouts. All it does is clog up the front of the fridge while some schmo is reading when I�m trying to get my lunch out. Send it by email if you have to share, just not to me.
I love potlucks as much as the next guy, and for the most part the food is good, except for you people who bring fu!*&ng pasta salads. There�s like 5 of them every potluck � how much pasta do you people eat? Newsflash, you have an obesity problem � switch to greens. But anyway, after every potluck the fridge is packed with everyone�s leftovers, and they stay there for weeks. Take your stuff home, especially that hummus, it stinks.
We are very fortunate to have a refrigerator with an ice maker here at the office. It would be nice if you didn�t fill up your gargantuan sports flask with ice every morning so the rest of us can have some ice before the afternoon. Also, the ice basket has a scoop right next to it, and it�s there for a reason. Use it.
No, the dry creamer for the coffee in the department is not good enough for you. You have to bring in your own milk or that foofy flavored creamer. That smell? It�s your dairy products spoiling. Go to Starbucks downstairs.
I know the fridge is packed full of stuff and lunches are everywhere, but if you have to move other people�s lunches in order to get to yours, can you please put it back on the shelf where it was originally? Otherwise, you end up looking endlessly for your lunch like an idiot.
On second thought, I�m going out to eat. Right after I throw away everything in the fridge.
By kc
July 15, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
At a former job, several of the lunches the ladies brought from home came up missing everyday at lunchtime - even the tupperware dishes. After a month of lunches missing, and several having to go out to buy lunch - out of budget - got fed up with the thief (ves)- but we posted notices first to please quit taking our lunches with no luck. We ladies decided to take matters in our own hands and we all made chocolate pudding laced with melted Ex-Lax. Needless to say after about two days of chocolate pudding being taken, no lunches were taken again and some of the previous tupperware dishes were returned. Ex-lax is a small price to pay - in some countries a thief’s hand would have been amputated.
By IT guy
July 15, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Our office was bad enough, then we outsourced a ton of jobs to India (read - INsourced to outside company; IOW - the Indians are here…). So, now I have to deal with a culture of folks that don’t mind drinking out of nasty cups and glasses after each other. they leave their dishes in our sink because it’s a womans job to clean. they leave the ice scoop IN the friggin ice dispenser instead of placing it in it’s spot. I’m sorry - i’m all for america’s melting pot - i just don’t want the pot melting on me and causing me to get sick.
By Becky
July 15, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
kc, red chilli peppers work well also..
By Dish Rag
July 15, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
I formally worked for a company that was too cheap to provide paper towels, so we had about 5 dish towels to use. Get this: it was each non-mgmt employee’s job to TAKE THESE HOME ON FRIDAY to wash and bring back on Monday. First, a re-used towel is nasty and it was our jobs to take these home. What belongs at work, stays at work. Of course, I was younger then and obeyed, but now, no way. The co. I now work for is ok. Folks clean behind themselves w/in reason. We have a sign over the sink stating, “Your Mother does not work here, so clean up behind yourself”. The humor works. The thing I don’t get is the stinky food people eat at their desk. I work in a high rise and the odors have no where to go. Get a hint, curry & tuna crowd!
By Scared by mo's mom
July 15, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this
Wow Mo’s mom, may I suggest you count your blessings, you sound like you have some real problems.
By Critic
July 15, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this
The solution to a break room problem is to assign co-workers in teams of 2 to clean the break area every day for a week. For major problems, simply present the offender with any dirty plates and trash that is left behind. Post a sign on the door of the fridge that it will be cleaned out every Friday afternoon, and everything will be discarded. Unfortunately, there is no solution to the selfish jerk who doesn’t make another pot of coffee except relish in the fact that you are going to get a really fresh cup yourself.
By SPhilipMartin
July 15, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this
It is now after the big axed WFL girl passed gase in there this morning.
By Carri
July 15, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
Kitchen duty assignment works in my office. It’s not perfect. Most of us are women and we keep it clean, but the men don’t lift a finger. And our office administrator is not much better. I always seem to have duty the week after her and she leaves a mess. We all mostly use paper and plastic so it can be thrown away. This week is actually my week of kitchen duty and come Friday, everything that is left in the fridge will be pitched! I have thrown tupperware out before and won’t hesitate to throw it out again. Some people are just slobs and I wouldn’t want to see their homes.
By lovelyliz
July 15, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this
Worse are the employers who decide that everybody can clean up the smoke lounge.
By Shell
July 15, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
All of the above is true, food stealing really gets me. I put a frig pack of cokes in one day; took out one to give away, and put the remaining 11 in the refrig. WITH MY NAME ON IT (which is very unique) —this was a Monday, by Wed. the box was still there with only 1 soda!!!—the Director refused to believe people stole food. Also, we have a kitchen; 3 refrigerators; double-sink; 4 microwaves; 1 toaster oven—get the point?! WHY do we have lazy people too sorry to trot upstairs one floor to the kitchen, but instead clean & wash their dishes in the bathroom sink!!!! This is SOOO nasty! the plumbing here is awful! (always); and people will still brush their teeth with the food particles “swimming” in the water!
I eat away from the office; if not, I bring mine and will eat it luke-warm before I put it in the refrigerator…
Good blog!!!
By sassy
July 21, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
you guys are lucky to have a dishwasher. we don’t even have a sink!