I'm sure you've heard stories of shenanigans in the work break room. It's an interesting space for food-related adventures, because of the various cultural norms around food. If you haven't experienced these wonders before, the work break room is a common place to leave food that you want to share. For example, a coworker of mine had a ton of lemons from their tree, so they brought in a bunch and left them in the break room. People picked up a couple if they wanted some, and by the end of the day, the lemons were gone.
So, there is a certain expectation that some food will be shared within that space. However, there is usually a fridge there where people put their own, private lunches. It's usually not that hard to tell when the food belongs to someone els; if it's in tupperware or in a lunch bag of some sort, that's usually a dead giveaway. Heck, my rule of thumb is that if it's in the fridge, it probably belongs to someone else. People put their own things in the fridge, and then they leave stuff out in the common table areas if they want to share it.
You'd think it was a pretty simple system, but it does go wrong sometimes. Like I said, I have either seen or heard enough stories about food disappearing when it's not meant to that I believe that not everyone is on the same page about this. Folks who I know have had their packed-in-the-fridge meals and snacks disappear, which means that someone else went into the fridge and took said item. I can't quite fathom what someone is thinking when they do this, but it's a thing that people have to worry about.
So, when I saw this on the break room, I highly appreciated it:
Someone else had come by, noticed the cookies, and then thought to ask whether they could have one or that. In light of the potential issues with just taking one, it was an awfully polite thing to do. Also, given the positioning of the note on the right, it looked like a response to the original note. People were having actual conversations via Post-It about the state of the cookies, which made me laugh even harder about the whole thing.
That said, since the person on the left had gone out of their way to be polite, I figured they deserved the cookies. Like I told a coworker of mine, "I would've given them some if they were mine, just for asking." Good things happen when you mind your P's and Q's, you know?
Of course, the note on the right sure looked like authorization to dive into the cookies, so when I walked by a while later, the box was open and some cookies had been eaten. For the second time that day, I laughed heartily about cookies on the communal table. You deserved it, Post-It-Note-On-The-Left.
So, there is a certain expectation that some food will be shared within that space. However, there is usually a fridge there where people put their own, private lunches. It's usually not that hard to tell when the food belongs to someone els; if it's in tupperware or in a lunch bag of some sort, that's usually a dead giveaway. Heck, my rule of thumb is that if it's in the fridge, it probably belongs to someone else. People put their own things in the fridge, and then they leave stuff out in the common table areas if they want to share it.
You'd think it was a pretty simple system, but it does go wrong sometimes. Like I said, I have either seen or heard enough stories about food disappearing when it's not meant to that I believe that not everyone is on the same page about this. Folks who I know have had their packed-in-the-fridge meals and snacks disappear, which means that someone else went into the fridge and took said item. I can't quite fathom what someone is thinking when they do this, but it's a thing that people have to worry about.
So, when I saw this on the break room, I highly appreciated it:
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| The note on the left was what drew my praise |
That said, since the person on the left had gone out of their way to be polite, I figured they deserved the cookies. Like I told a coworker of mine, "I would've given them some if they were mine, just for asking." Good things happen when you mind your P's and Q's, you know?
Of course, the note on the right sure looked like authorization to dive into the cookies, so when I walked by a while later, the box was open and some cookies had been eaten. For the second time that day, I laughed heartily about cookies on the communal table. You deserved it, Post-It-Note-On-The-Left.
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