Sitting in the breakroom, thinking about not working, I decided to start scribbling down everything around me. The list reads like the inventory of a waiting room to an unnecessary appointment.
Break Rooms – Part Unum
If it smells like micro-waved Mexican food and newspaper ink then you are either in the break room or a bus station. If you can’t openly swear at the vending machine that keeps mugging you of your change then you’re in the break room; if there’s a homeless man sleeping by the vending machine then you’re in the bus station.
I don’t see how plastic coated tabletops count as much of a break from my desk, which has a plastic coated tabletop. I’m told that most companies don’t have enticing break rooms. There are too few distractions, unless you count well-thumbed magazines advising you how you might dress better this winter on a tight budget or how you and your partner can learn to communicate better without counseling. Actually, that’s not a bad one.
Some companies have cottoned on to the fact that a stimulated employee is more productive. They have chosen to upgrade their fusty old break rooms with lashings of garish paint, bean bags and mind-exercising games, often involving wooden bricks. As if being urged to discover your inner child was not embarrassing enough, these rooms have names like “Zen dens,” “play spaces” or “chat chambers.” You’ll find me purging myself in the vomit vault. Spending time in something called a “chat chamber” is as appealing to me as selling shaving foam to the Taleban.
Back then to the Western World, the break room fridge gets wiped once a week, like my bosses accounts. The break room is just like a kitchen at home except for the signs telling you (1) not to eat other people’s food, and that (2) a really great work community relies on everyone doing their own washing up. One reader kindly sent me this. Someone is paid to make signs like this; that’s their job. Ouch.
If your office has signs like this then please email them over to me here. I’ll run a feature of the worst office signs in the corporate world!
;)
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Ours smells like an Indian cafeteria I guess that’s what happens when your technology company decides to outsource to India!
At least you HAVE a break room… sigh…
I’m kinda thinking of printing out your sign and hanging it over our breakroom sink. We don’t even have a table. But we always have gross dishes in the sink. ugh.
Our break room smelled awful, and don’t even look in the back of the fridge (workers would do a mandated cleaning every few months, but still…).
Our lunchroom has bistro tables with cushy padded chairs, cable tv, fridge, microwave, convection toaster oven, and a dishwasher. And a view. Well, a view of the neighbouring lots that are being developed. But we’re on the flightpath to the airport so we see a lot of planes which is kind of exciting. Still, I eat downstairs at my desk. There are no cool signs or kitchen cleanup schedules. We put our dishes in the dishwasher and once a week the cleaner turns it on. The only work we do is empty it at some point when we run out of clean coffee mugs downstairs. I think we are spoiled.\I suppose that’s what happens when you have more managers than non-managers, and no production facilities. Just office and warehouse space. The only offensive smell occurs if someone brings a barfy Pizza Pop or my boss burns the sandwich he is toasting.
Good day to the happy workforce- in the council we have no chill out room or Zen dens,” “play spaces” or “chat chambers,” as you so wittingly wrote. We have a microwave in the office with a kettle and damp coffee / tea facilities on top. The main function of the microwave is to fill the office for days with the sort of smell that would make even a binge eater anorexic and any one with nasal congestion jump for joy. And the main aim of the kettle and accompaniments is to cause constant rows and tutting over who brought said accompaniment and who can use etc. So many of us opt for the café in the building which is run by a many but only one stand out – ‘D’ and he makes the Basil Faulty look like a man of charm – the perfect host.
Still the next time I appear at the café at 1.00 only to be told by D it is all gone and I should appear at a ‘reasonable’ time. I shall threaten to have him sent to the ‘play space’ I wonder if that would work?
cheers
I’ve always been stunned by the number of people who claim they keep a clean home and, yet, leave a business kitchen area like a pigsty… Who do they think they are, not to pick up after themselves. If you can afford staff, you wouldn’t need a job… What you do is make sure you tell everyone (before they leave the room) to clean up their mess… regardless of how “busy” they are — everyone’s busy… Come visit when you can…
Our break room smells of micro-waved Mexican food with the occasional rotten fish smell. I don’t think I have ever spent time sitting in there. I would rather sit in the hall on the cold concrete floor.
It is definitely a common problem. Our admin team is usually the ones who are left to do the day-to-day cleaning so we decided to get together to think up some creative signs to prompt people to clean up after themselves. We made them colourful with cartoons on them that get to the point. We created the signs with three assumptions as to why they didn’t clean:
1) they didn’t know they had to;
2) they didn’t know how; and
3) they didn’t know where everything was kept.
We bought large magnetic sheets that will go through the printer. They were great and alloweds us to customize our own signs. We have labelled the cupboards where everything is kept. On the coffee machine we have a sign to Help Yourself, so they know it is self serve and put instructions on how to operate it. We have a magnet sign on the dishwasher with Clean in white (please unload) and Dirty in black (please turn on the dishwasher when full) that you reverse depending on the state of the dishes. We also put simple instructions on how to turn the dishwasher on. We put a sign over the sink about not leaving dirty dishes in the sink. At our last all-staff meeting we introduced the concept and invited everyone to take a look in the kitchen and let us know what they think. We will see if it works, but it is definitely visible.
First-time reader here. Funny stuff.
I felt compelled to chime in; I work at a college and while higher education is too underfunded for official break rooms, we have commandeered a dorm room. (My office is temporarily housed in an old residence hall; I had to spray paint the marijuana leaf off the over-sized bulletin board.) Our “break room” is, appropriately, a “joint” (meaning shared, of course) room for inter-office use. No funky smells or overly-messy coworkers and the dorm-sized fridge fits right in to the ambiance. Now if we could just get a set of bunk beds in there….
Passing a happy 2011 full of Love and Happiness
A cordial greeting …
Abstract texts and reflection.
Ah what a pleasure to work in an industry where you are catered to throughout the day with craft service and buffet’ style lunches. No mess to clean up and proper dining tables to sit at while having a laugh with the rest of the crew. An hour later it’s back to work but coffee and tea are available at any time and no cups to wash.
Join the film industry and enjoy civilized lunches.
God bless you my friend in 2011. Geoff.
What, are you still on a break? Lunch break was over 2 months ago!
Don\’t be mean,keep it clean!
Ha ha! I think employers deliberately make break rooms unappealing. Otherwise we\’d all spend more time there, right?
I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatensdd.
Thanks mate… just dropped by. Will look for BIKE STN when we get to Seattle. Still in Buenos Airies.
My school has one that says, \’I\’m not your mother clean up your own mess\’, and I always think that even if I was their mother I wouldn\’t clean up their mess. Why do people assume that mothers are slaves. I love your blog and have stuck a link on a couple of my blogs. I hope that\’s ok. I might come up with an article for you one day too.
Первичные навыки апортировки
Рекомендуем наш форум – форум о forex.
Узнай про покер техасский холдем и покер онлайн на деньги русский?
онлайн покер – приватные турниры покер, bet покер.
Где сыграть покер бесплатно без регистрации и покер на телефон нокиа?
русский покер онлайн – покер автомат скачать, победа в покере.
Где сыграть где покер и сайт статистики покер?
русский покер онлайн – король покера на русском, покер vip.
Где сыграть покер фейс и покер hud?
русский покер онлайн – расписной покер скачать бесплатно, покер префлоп.
Как прогнать свой сайт? Как поднять посещаемость? Как поднять Тиц и Pr?
Прогон по каталогам ничего не дает, мы предлогаем уникальную возможность прогона по дешевым ценам!
СУПЕР ПРОГОН ВАШЕГО САЙТА: (icq 618204327)
ТАРИФЫ:
Наши тарифы прогона сайта по солянке:
Прогон по базе из 5000 сайтов стоит 150 руб
Прогон по базе из 10000 сайтов стоит 250 руб
Прогон по всей базе (примерно 30 000 сайтов) сайтов стоит 500 руб
_______________________________________
Тарифы прогона сайта по профилям:
Регистрация 3000 профилей на разных форумах ( с вашими сылками внутри аккаунтов) ВСЕГО 100 руб !!!!! (придет 3000 писем)
Регистрация 10000 профилей на разных форумах ( с вашими сылками внутри аккаунтов) ВСЕГО 300 руб !!!!! (придет 10000 писем)
Регистрация 25000 профилей на разных форумах ( с вашими сылками внутри аккаунтов) ВСЕГО 600 руб !!!!! (придет 25000 писем)
_____________________________________
Тарифы рекламного прогона сайта по форумам:
Прогон 3000 постов на разных форумах (Ваш рекламный текст в постах) Всего 210 руб (придет 3000 писем)
Прогон 10000 постов на разных форумах (Ваш рекламный текст в постах) Всего 600 руб (придет 10000 писем)
Прогон 25000 постов на разных форумах (Ваш рекламный текст в постах) Всего 1200 руб (придет 25000 писем)
___________________________________________
Наши тарифы прогона сайта по форумам:
Прогон 3000 постов на разных форумах ( с сылками внутри текста) Всего 150 руб (придет 3000 писем)
Прогон 10000 постов на разных форумах ( с сылками внутри текста) Всего 450 руб (придет примерно 10000 писем)
Прогон 25000 постов на разных форумах ( с сылками внутри текста) Всего 900 руб (придет примерно 25000 писем)
_______________________________________________
Тарифы прогона сайта по гостевым книгам:
Размещение сообщения в гостевой книге на 3000 сайтов (Размещается сообщение в гостевой книге с вашим объявлением или сылкой на сайт) Всего 120 руб
Размещение сообщения в гостевой книге на 10000 сайтов (Размещается сообщение в гостевой книге с вашим объявлением или сылкой на сайт) Всего 300 руб
___________________________________________
Наши тарифы прогона сайта по комментариям:
Размещение комментариев на 3000 сайтов (Размещается комментарий на сайтах с вашим объявлением или сылкой на сайт) Всего 150 руб (придет около 3000 писем с регистрацией на сайтах, где добавлялись комментарии)
Размещение комментариев на 10000 сайтов (Размещается комментарий на сайтах с вашим объявлением или сылкой на сайт) Всего 450 руб (придет около 10000 писем с регистрацией на сайтах, где добавлялись комментарии)
_____________________________________
Для оформления заказа вам необходимо написать в Icq 618204327 для связи!
Гарантия! Полный отчет!
Порно фильм онлайн. Бесплатное онлайн порно фильмы смотреть.
(придет около 10000 писем с регистрацией на сайтах, где добавлялись комментарии)