Hellobee Boards

Hmm. Do you work in a very remote island where there is 100 people total, everyone has to raise their chickens, grow their rice, food source is scarce so they frown upon people taking food without reporting?

I can't help but laugh reading this! This has to be an episode of The Office, or Curb Your Enthusiasm, it can't be real lol. It is freaking 3pm in the afternoon when everyone has already eaten lunch. There were LUNCH FOOD LEFTOVERS, like chicken and rice. What do you expect people to do, stop working, spend 1/2 hour eating another lunch or super early dinner right there? Say if they announce there is free lunch available at 11:30am, or if there were cake, or a fancy afternoon snack / pastries available at 3pm I can see people frown upon someone taking it home to the families, but lunch food at 3pm?! I do not understand the mentality. If they don't like people touching the leftovers, then don't announce it and let it rot lol

But then I don't know the work culture at your work place, which makes me very curious.

I've always worked in small non profits and so this entire thing is completely foreign to me, and mildly hilarious, like an episode of The Office. Whenever there was leftover food I feel like people were constantly shoving it at me telling me to take it home! Or someone would just ask and we'd all say "cool, whatever, take this too."
Sorry there was conflict, that sucks and would make me feel super uncomfortable.

Wth. That's nuts!! Leftovers are first come first serve. I'm willing to very there are people the who could and would eat more than that, so what does it matter if you take a helping home. Its not like you picked up the whole platter to feed your neighborhood. I think as long as the helping is reasonable, then its yours to do with as you please. I grab food all the time from left over meetings. Sometimes i save it for later that day, or the next day for lunch at work, or take it home. And sometimes i go back to check an hour later to give others a go at it, but if there's still food, I'll even go for a second helping... oh the horror...

@RonjaL7: Out of total curiosity, how does your office divide Men/Women wise?

I've been working in an office with mostly men for a long time, but with mostly women in my previous job. I can totally see this happening at my previous workplace, but I can't imagine the men in my current office even noticing, much less caring about "fairness" or what you do with leftover food.

As long as you took a reasonable sized (single adult) helping, I don't think you did anything wrong...

That seems so petty. I would be so uncomfortable in a setting where people were that focused on such trivial things.

This is so bizarre to me. At my company food is regularly brought in for various lunch meetings. Once everyone at the meeting is done with it they put it in one of the kitchens. And no one would care what you did with it. I mean, I guess if it’s the really good dessert stuff and you take the entire tray for yourself you might get some side eye. But lunch leftovers aren’t intended as a company snack that all employees should divide evenly. They were intended to feed who was in the meeting and after that it’s fair game.

This is so silly. I see absolutely no issue with bringing home a few chicken strips. And if you hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have known. And the fact that they threw away left overs the next day is infuriating. Your office sucks.

If I’m taking something home it’s because I’m encouraged to do so or there is way too much leftover, but at my offices we have one fridge where the leftovers go and everyone just snacks on them for a week. We do huge Office potlucks though. Sometimes if you brought a thing and there are leftovers you take it home.

BUT I would expect a 3pm announcement of leftover food to imply that you could come take it home if it’s chicken and rice.

Nonetheless, I would stop doing it for now. It’s clearly an issue.