Lately my office has reminded me of a kindergarten classroom. Suddenly work has become a list of rules I thought I learned before I knew how to tie my shoes. Apparently some others missed the memo.
I’m talking about the “refrigerator do’s and don’ts” someone has posted on the fridge in the conference room down the hall. The etiquette maven has advised me that I’m to clean up spills immediately. But the no-no list is longer. It includes, “Do not eat or drink foods that do not belong to you” and “do not leave food to rot and smell.” Thanks, Mom.
There also has been a swine flu-inspired sign erected in our office admonishing employees to “cover your cough” and “clean your hands.” More sage advice that I never heard before.
Another favorite is a plaque on a one-stall toilet a couple of floors down: “Please lock the door to ensure privacy.” There’s a concept for you.
Why did all this paternalistic politically correct advice invade my workplace, which is after all a conservative Christian environment? Are some people just upset that they don’t have more influence?
If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that note was posted at the behest of someone who's either tired of having their lunch stolen or tired of cleaning up the unidentifiable sludge left from someone’s leaky leftovers.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I was the victim of the office food thief. On several occasions, leftovers I'd brought back from a restaurant after lunch mysteriously disappeared. But it didn’t stop there. I typically kept snacks in my desk – granola bars, popcorn and the like – but they were depleting at an alarming rate and I knew I wasn’t THAT hungry during the day. One morning I found an entire package of breakfast muffins missing, only to discover the thief red-handed munching away on my bran muffins, the open package blatently displayed on his desk. The thief was a member of upper-management, who apparently was unable to procure adequate sustenance on his six-figure salary and needed to presume upon my $500 a week to ensure he received proper nourishment. When I confronted him, he acted as if the whole thing were just a big joke and never did apologize. This was the same man who drank the last of the coffee without making another pot, left spills on the floor and on the counters in the coffee area and left countless messes in the microwave where he undoubtedly reheated someone else’s lunch for himself. I’m sure he’d have left a disaster in the refrigerator as well, if he’d ever actually put anything in there himself.
You’d hope that this wouldn’t be an issue at a conservative Christian environment, but sadly, I’ve discovered that this is often not the case. As people become more and more self-absorbed in society as a whole, that mindset leaks into Christian circles as well. People think they are just “too busy” to bother taking the time to clean up their messes, assuming that someone else will do it and excusing their behavior citing “that urgent meeting they had to get to”, or their “overwhelming workload. As Christians we should hold ourselves to a higher standard, but unfortunately, for many, that standard only applies at the desk where everyone sees them and not behind the closed door in the breakroom.
Great comment from CatinAZ! Years ago we boarded a horse for training at a local stable. Prominently displayed next to the tack room was a huge sign that read: YOUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF! (I'm fairly sure this was not directed at the horses!) With regard to the breakroom signs, some folks just seem to think cleaning up is always someone else's job. I wonder if they think themselves above grabbing the dish cloth and washing up the cups in the sink? ... wiping up the counter? ... throwing the empty sugar and creamer packets in the trash, whether they left them or not? Not if they continue in the mindset of "Someone else's job!"
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