Let’s have some fun, it is time to talk about a subject that should make everyone smile.
Why you may ask? Because you know someone who is doing it or you are the one doing it……
It is time to talk about food in the workplace, I would like to share some stories.
Treats in a workplace
The walking candy bowl!
I used to work with Kathy, she was to me not only a beautiful person but a candid spirit. She had in her office three beautiful dishes on a cabinet. Each dish had a different candy (M&M chocolate, M&M peanuts, mints). From time to time people would go in her office and grab a few of those treats. A young man, fresh out of college, was hired in sales. He, like some of the young men, didn’t have a very good understanding between frat house and corporate world. I started to notice that the dishes that contained the M&M candies was becoming empty every day. One Friday afternoon after the Grande Duchess had gone home, I walked by the office and noticed one of the bowls was gone. I stopped in my tracks, checked again, and yes, to my surprise, the bowl was gone. I stopped by Eliza’s office asking her if she saw the bowl, no one would dare to remove it from her office. Eliza mentioned to me the new hire would wait for the Grande Duchess to leave than take the bowl to the conference room to snack and to watch TV… I looked at her startled. She repeated the same thing again. I started to laugh, who in his right mind could do that??? I looked down the aisle, the new hire was at his desk and to my surprise he was picking M&M’s from the dish. I couldn’t help it, I took a photo with my phone. That Monday morning, I did share it with the Grande Duchess. We had a good laugh about it. To set the records straight the candies she had available for everyone were purchased with her own money……
Candies snatchers!
I was working as a consultant for a few months with a team that was all female. It was great because their personalities where not only different, but it was the only group of females I worked with that were too busy doing their jobs, so no drama was in order. One of them had a nice basket that was full of candies for people who would come to visit her from time to time. Even though I was there for only 3 months, I pitched in and bought some candies. She did share with me, that before leaving each day, she had to put her basket under lock and key. It looked like people where coming to snatch the candies while she was gone.
Food trollers:
John had a morning ritual, he would start his computer than go to talk to everyone in the group. After that walk about, he would be gone for about an hour. He would go upstairs to visit another group where danishes/donuts/coffee were available on Monday morning’s. During the day he would also troll around the conference rooms for trays of cookies, food etc. Often, he would come back with a full plate, stopping at our desk to share with us people were celebrating birthdays. What amazed me somehow, he was able to get in to eat the food even if he didn’t know anyone. He was kind enough to let us know we should go and get some. It was hilarious because each time a group had a catering of some sort he would find it. I need to explain this was a campus not a one-story building. There were thousands of workers. I did tell him one day, if we were lost on a deserted island, I wanted to have him on this island because he would always find the food. He was a nice gentleman, but food was his weakness.