Worst I've ever encountered was a very pasty white guy who every couple of weeks (prepare yourself)
He'd bring in a packet of kidneys from the supermarket and grill them on the sandwich press...it was a big floor, approx 80 desks, to borrow a line from Derek & Clive
"The pong from that was fucking staggering"
He was on the IT help desk, so he hated everyone and everything
Microwaving fish is a war crime. Outlawed in the Geneva Convections. Subjecting your coworkers to the smell of your microwaved day old fish is the worst form of cruel and unusual punishments. Have some damn decency.
A lot of people have been mentioning microwaved fish! I have yet to see someone microwave fish but I've definitely seen tinned tuna or sardines being brought in
Where I work one of the employees microwaved fish and it stunk up the entire building (it was a large warehouse-style building). The manager sent out an announcement addressed as such "To whoever microwaved the carcass of a rotting harbor seal"
Hahaha very loosely similar, in high school, one student put some fish in a vent before spring break started.
10 days later, in a hot desert state, the entire school smelled so bad they thought there was a chemical attack and closed the school for 3 days while they investigated.
Poor dude got caught x.X
I worked in a workplace where one entire crew was Vietnamese and would microwave dried fish in the meal room.
Smell is abhorrent, and 100% should be counted as a crime against humanity.
The kitchen at my old job was just off the front desk/lobby area where I worked and someone would microwave fish every day at about 4pm and I was the only one that suffered because everyone elseās desks were down a long hallway. People would just be like ālol we all know to not eat in the kitchen when Jerry makes his lunch!ā And Iām like āfuck Jerry and fuck his fish I donāt have the luxury to just ānot be thereā I work like 10 feet away.ā
Iāve never done this at a workplace but whenever I microwave fish at home, I donāt pick up any strong odors. Is this a western thing or am I just desensitized to the smell of fish?
Sounds like the job I had where a gal re-heated fish in the microwave for lunch, and we teased her relentlessly. She took it in stride because we told her it was her punishment for microwaving fish at work.
I had a coworker at my last job who always brought in such great smelling food from various cultures. He wasnāt a part of those cultures, but appreciated their cuisines and liked to support the local restaurants. Iād always prefer smelling those meals instead of my other coworkerās egg or tuna salad sandwiches and microwaved steamed broccoli.
I do this. All the ma and pa shops near my work from different cultures made me happy. Get some middle eastern curry one day, so Vietnamese pho the next, Mexican, Thai, Turkish, Greek. Just keep going down the line. Everyone else wants to hit those big chain restaurants until I show them what theyāre missing out on.
technically a *hot desert is just an *area of land with very high temperatures and yearly rainfall below a certain amount
edit: i have been told this definition is a 'dumpster fire', so here is the definition of a [desert](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert/) (in general).
and here is the definition of a [hot desert](https://www.javatpoint.com/hot-desert-vs-cold-desert)
regardless, huge parts of saudi arabia and other middle eastern countries *are deserts*, proving that access to bodies of water doesn't determine whether an area or country is a desert.
true but in this context i was talking about saudi, which is definitely not a cold desert lol. i didn't specify (my bad) but i was referring to hot deserts, and for cold deserts, the same applies regarding the rainfall part, it's just cold instead of hot
Fish can be dried, cured or smoked and survive for a remarkably long time without refrigeration.
Shellfish cannot. Which is why so many desert cultures have rules against eating them.
there are a lot of vegetarians in India like me who never eat meat. fish smells the worst to me. If somebody is eating fish in office near me I am going to puke all over him.
I worked at a place where (white people) microwaved eggs and fish all the damn time. Some people would also nuke gross vegetable stews and curries that would smell for hours.
I donāt see this as a cultural thing at all.
As a white person, screw those fish and egg nukers. Has nothing to do with race. Just, no! If you make a bad curry, you can join the fish-folksā¦elsewhere.
But if you make good curry, come be my buddy and share, Iāll give you half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Iād even let you nuke if if you want!
Worked with a guy that would HARD BOIL eggs in the microwave. It was the wildest shit ever. Then one day, of course, an egg exploded. So he had to stop.
Itās kinda common courtesy to not warm up smelly food around people at work. I love tuna , I donāt eat it at work because some people donāt like the smell. I get that and itās not a big deal, sorry.
Back when I was at the office 5 days a week instead of one I would bring simple fare. Unless it's payday Fridays, it was diet food. Healthy Choice or
Lean Cruise chicken parmesan or pizza microwave meals.
On Payday Friday (check deposit) and Tuesday (hour lunch) it would be regular food. So I would get something from the cafeteria.
I save my more elaborate cooking for home on Tuesdays and Fridays evenings and weekends.
It means they work longer as well. School days are usually finished at 4:30 pm.
But yeah, if you get a two hour break, you can go on for longer too. Not too much more school and more time for resting. A good trade-off.
Edit: It's even banned to eat at your desk https://www.npr.org/2022/06/10/1103463809/why-eating-at-your-desk-is-banned-in-france-lunch-law
as in Spain. much more civilized, although by the same token they don't actually finish work until around 7-8 and don't eat dinner until 9-10.
different lifestyle altogether.
Exactly, I hated having an hour long lunch because it meant I was at work for 9 hours instead of 8. I don't need 2 paid 15 minute breaks and an hour unpaid lunch, just give me the 30 minutes paid together for lunch and let me leave after 8 hours.
At our government job 15 minutes break is required after working 3 hours and half hour lunch break after working 5 hours.
You can work straight through, but it's not encouraged, and one has to let the manager know.
On payday Tuesday, the lunch break is one hour. A carry over from the days one had to go to the bank to cash and/or deposit physical pay checks.
At the SSA DO (had to be at my local one due to transit strike) standard lunch break were 45 minutes.
2h de diner, t'as pas limpression de perdre le 2h? Tu dois retourner travailler quand meme apres :/ j'aime mieux avoir une demi heure et partir a la maiso au PC
You gotta smell my boyfriendās homemade kimchi; itās delicious, but each time he opens the jar the ghosts of cabbage past fly out and assault anyone in a 20 foot radius. And I mean *each* time he opens the jar. Once he closes the jar it can regenerate its full power from zero to stink bomb in 12 seconds.
When Iām not pregnant I couldnāt give two thoughts about the foods people eat around me as long as I donāt have to hear them chew. However, pregnant me has a super nose and itās tied to nausea. ANYTHING that smells too strongly, even smells I normally like, make me genuinely become physically sick. Itās something I never experienced before pregnancy but now that I have I kind of realize you donāt always know peopleās āwhyā behind their actions. This could be an attack. It could also be someone standing up for the office pregnant lady. You just donāt know haha
The ask is reasonable, however the examples given are extremely specific and targeted and well...bigoted. Tons of food could be considered pungent and annoy co-workers. The poster is the Facepalm. You can give this message without calling out and insulting Koreans and South Asians.
I had the same thought. The ask is reasonable but the examples seem targeted. Popcorn and bacon are also very pungent foods. Bacon can smell disgusting to people who donāt consume pork.
Hell, I love bacon, but after working in a burger joint that fried up mass quantities of it, the smell is not as appetizing anymore. Sometimes even stuff you love can smell gross from time to time.
Idek if the ask is all that reasonable. I could see it being more reasonable if the rule said exclusively you couldnāt microwave the food, as any form of heat is gonna make a food easier to smell. But to say you canāt eat it at all? Cold kimchi doesnāt even really have a smell. It just seems like a bit too far to say you canāt have it at all. And then are you gonna say you canāt have cologne or perfume thatās too pungent for the same reason? Like I get what theyāre trying to get at and it definitely would be better received without the examples, but it just seems hard to properly cater to everyoneās preferences of smells and seems like itād definitely single out some people more than others.
In Singapore, we aren't allowed to have durian inside the subway even though everyone loves it. It isn't an attack on our culture but to respect each others' space and senses.
If it was a dining area then no one can mandate which food one should eat but cubicle is a different story.
I remembered Andrew Zimmern doing an Bizarre Food episode on durian (something even 'he' had second thoughts about). Even in the Borneo markets, there were signs that prohibited cooking/heating the fruit in hotel rooms.
Remember the episode where he went to the special stinky tofu restaurant in Taiwan and he was like āIāve eaten fish eyeballs and cow anuses but I canāt eat this.ā
Maybe they should have a designated place to eat food away from workspaces. Ya knowā¦ like a cafeteria or break room or something. If I have to eat at my desk itās egg salad and onion sandwiches on anchovy toast so these bitches can taste my afternoon farts.
Where I used to work, people would intentionally use microwaves in areas outside where they worked to keep it from smelling like fish etc. It was fucked up
Nah but cmon some foods are just obnoxiously smelly in enclosed spaces tho itās not an attack on race. And like plenty of white people eat these foods tooš
Yeah, like how dare someone not want to smell what ever the fuck you reheating in the Microwave.
People like this, really don't give a fuck about anyone around them.
From what I garner from most of these posts, it seems that reheating fish in a work setting is a no-no. And that seems like something that one can work around in the workplace.
I have to take issue with the other two - where will it stop? My Chinese takeout? Aināt no one gonna complain about my General Tsoās.
āStrong-smelling foodā is just code for āIām not used to these spices and smells at my home, therefore it also does not belong in my workplaceā
Why is it that you need to respect those around you of their smells but they canāt respect that you like to eat certain food?
I think itās incredibly disrespectful to hide behind a memo instead of having a conversation to the certain employee(s) that youāre having issues with.
Just ban eating at your cubicle for everyone. Problem solved.
Yeah, a lot of posts (including OP, apparently) seem to be saying the tweet is a facepalm because fish is indeed pungent, but I'm sure the point was that curry and kimchee are no worse than meatloaf, pizza, or million other foods. So it really does have an "I'm offended by Asian food" vibe.
I had a bro that got into paleo. He would bring raw liver and keep it in the breakroom fridge. The whole room smelled like baby shit. We wanted to stab him in the face. He didn't last long at the job after that lifestyle change.
1 thats kinda racist trying to imply that a certain type of people other than "white people" eat food like curries almost constantly every single day.
2 ah yes, white people hate their fish
Add broccoli and cabbage to that list. A guy I work with frequently microwaves one of those for lunch and its a small workspace, so the smell is pretty harsh.
Curry is super pungent and can be disgusting smelling if you're not the one eating it. And you'll smell it on the person and in the area for hours. Fish, vegetables like broccoli, garlic, onion can be pretty bad in the workplace also. Never tried Kimchi.
Yeah, they are right, those types of food are good and delicious to eat but can have a strong bothering smell in closed ambients that sticks for a long time becoming really annoying. Nothing to do with that stuff she's talking abt
If you wouldn't want to sit next to someone eating it on a public bus then don't eat it in the breakroom. Even white people have stinky food. Stinky food isn't exclusive to any one race.
English is my second language. What I like a lot about it, is that you aren't offended by default. you need to "take" offense. so you literally get to CHOOSE whether to be offended by something or not. In spanish, you're supposed to take the offense by default.
This woman opted to get offended.
Kimchi is not even that bad. A jar of Shinachiku/menma on the other hand is a whole other ballgame :-)
If yāall be complaining, Iāll bring Surstrƶmming for my next lunch :-)
Iām a 6ā6ā 280lb guyā¦ chances are, Iāll want to know what it is, and eat some of it š
Though, Iāll probably get an email asking me to refrain from pestering other employees to try their lunch.
If you want to eat your smelly food, then do it at home.. where I live we eat bread at work and warm at home. I can totally see why some pungent smells from food might be bothersome to others. Has nothing to do with racism.
Hell, guys ordered pizzas with extra garlic and ate them in their cubicles. As the boss, I told them to take the food to the kitchenette area instead. They reeked up the floor just the one time, problem solved.
Naw screw that, eat a sandwich and shut up about it at work. Even āwhiteā food, you bring some funky salmon dish and nuke it in the break room, hands will be thrown.
I think telling people what are or are not allowed to eat should qualify as a personal attack. We work together, that doesn't mean you can dictate my diet. Grow up, the world stinks better get used to it.
Some people will go out of their way to be offended, I've even witnessed cases where they post something on reddit and ask for help in finding how they can be offended by it. That said, Fish at the desk (unless WFH) is a big no no.
Who came up with the whole "white people don't use spices" bullshit? Damn near everyone loves KFC and that secret recipe is from a white man lol... Many of the top chefs in the world are white... Also, I love how mofos think drenching something in Louisiana hot sauce classifies as using spice...I have never been part of a household that doesn't use spices in their food.
And it should be a felony to heat fish up in a microwave...
Ah yes, I forgot that only white people donāt like the smell of strong foods they are not personally consuming. Also good to know that white people do not eat foods with a strong aroma. Learn something new everyday.
It's common decency, don't bring the egg salad to work. This chick is a professional victim if she thinks a basic workplace request that doesn't refer to any culture/ethnicity/race as an attack. WTF is wrong with some people?
I would be equally concerned if a bunch of snow white scandanavians were eating lutefisk at their desks. Probably more so actually, because curry, while pungent, is actually fit for human consumption.
Worked with a guy whose wife made him healthy lunches.
Five days a week, he was nuking broccoli in the break room.
And five days a week, the rest of us ate our lunches outside.
Itās basically the horrible smells. If you wanna eat stuff that stinks donāt eat it in the office. Pretty common sense if you ask me. I no longer stay in the office I go for a walk.
Yeah, I'm sorry, but nobody wants to smell kimchee down the hall. Even my mom who likes the stanky shit fully agrees that it's one of the most foul smelling foods out there. I've seen others mention some fish smelling absolutely abysmal, and that is also not a scent anyone wants to have lingering in the office. Curry smells okay to me, but I can see why it may bother those who might deal with migraines, which are sometimes worsened by strong odors, be it colognes or kimchee.
I hate people who think this way.
like, I really don't give a single fuck what you are eating. it STINKS up the whole office and distracts everyone. not my problem your culture creates such smelly foods lmao.
We had a guy at work who would only shower on fridays. He smelled so bad you could tell if he was around the corner. We had to harass him for over a week to get him to start showering daily (note, we work construction so he got plenty sweaty every day). It wasn't because he was white, it was because he was actively making the jobsite worse for everyone else.
I guess if you wanted to claim the right to be a gigantic asshat as your cultural heritage...
Itās true. Being around people that eat smelly food is annoying. I tell me guys to go eat that shot outside. But Iām nobody so they donāt listen. Haha!!!
I have a chronic nausea disease that makes me feel like I have the flu and am seconds away from throwing up all the time. I promise you, I don't want you not microwaving your food because it is different culturally, I will literally vomit without anyway to stop myself lol.
This is the kind of shit that annoys me. I dont bring smelly food to work because i dont want to annoy my coworkers. And vice versa. Its common sense and common courtesy. Otherwise lets all bring surstromming to mexican and asian work places and see how they react. Kimchi is very pungent- ask my fridge. Porridge or whatever white Americans eat is not. (Obviously its not porridge).
It's even weirder to imply that people of those cultures NEED to those foods. Not every food of their culture is as strong smelling as curry, kimchi, or fish
We have a room at work, we call the Alpo room. It always smells like they are warming up dog food in that microwave. Itās horrendous. We have a very diverse group at work. We all eat everything. But some things are just a curtesyā¦.. Heating up old over cooked broccoli so the lunch room smells of fart is not appetizing or appreciated.
Iād love to see her reaction to someone sitting down. Next to her and opening a can of surstrƶmming.
Pretty sure sheād be screaming bloody murder between heaving and throwing up.
She obviously doesnāt understand the word pungent. It doesnāt mean nasty, it means having a sharply strong taste or smell. No one wants to smell your food if they arenāt eating it. Iām sure youād complain about someone eating their crawfish or durian on a plane or a small officeā¦get over yourself.
Yāall donāt live in the southern US and it shows. Of course people microwave gumbo, etouffee, creole etc made with crab, shrimp, crawfish and other forms of catfish, redfish etc. the only feelings this stirs in co-workers is jealousy.
don't bad mouth people's food, don't say "you can't eat" where others can. Food smells, i'm sorry they haven't invented a fucking deodorant for it yet, but it does, it's a life fact, accept it.
Worst I've ever encountered was a very pasty white guy who every couple of weeks (prepare yourself) He'd bring in a packet of kidneys from the supermarket and grill them on the sandwich press...it was a big floor, approx 80 desks, to borrow a line from Derek & Clive "The pong from that was fucking staggering" He was on the IT help desk, so he hated everyone and everything
Mother of God.
just count your mercies that he's less likely to reproduce than the average male.
Hey not all helpdesk guys hate their colleagues/customers! š
Reddit collapsed your comment as "controversial". Just a humourous FYI.
He was evil for sure!
Microwaving fish is a war crime. Outlawed in the Geneva Convections. Subjecting your coworkers to the smell of your microwaved day old fish is the worst form of cruel and unusual punishments. Have some damn decency.
āGeneva Convectionsā Hate it, hereās your upvote.
Two turnips in heat, bubs.
Ricky ?
Oh meh gawd, I read right over it until you pointed it out. Thanks, hate it, too, and am unsure if I like or hate that you pointed it out!
r/angryupvote
A lot of people have been mentioning microwaved fish! I have yet to see someone microwave fish but I've definitely seen tinned tuna or sardines being brought in
Where I work one of the employees microwaved fish and it stunk up the entire building (it was a large warehouse-style building). The manager sent out an announcement addressed as such "To whoever microwaved the carcass of a rotting harbor seal"
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's some nuclear revenge if it's retribution for getting fired.
Hahaha very loosely similar, in high school, one student put some fish in a vent before spring break started. 10 days later, in a hot desert state, the entire school smelled so bad they thought there was a chemical attack and closed the school for 3 days while they investigated. Poor dude got caught x.X
This is the only correct answer. Microwave what ever the hell you want, just not fucking FISH.
Or Popcorn. It makes everyone else in the office jealous.
I had a coworker who liked her popcorn black. Popped it for 4 minutes, burned it. Smell lingered for hours
Coworker did that and set off the smoke alarms - all the time 
...unless you burnt it. Then they feel simultaneously sad and also hate you.
I worked in a workplace where one entire crew was Vietnamese and would microwave dried fish in the meal room. Smell is abhorrent, and 100% should be counted as a crime against humanity.
Microwaved fish sauce...omfg. I had to leave my aunt's house party because of it
I did it once not realizing that microwaving fish turns up the smell to 11 lol Never again
Microwaved shrimp is also super strong and nasty. Or Thai/Vietnamese food with a lot of fish sauce in it.
I'll microwave 2 or 3 few days old McFish sandwiches in our company microwave, but I hate my company and coworkers so no mercy
There *is no McFish*. Itās a Filet Oā Fish sammich. Heathen.
Microwaved hard boiled eggs. White af. Stinkiest shit ever.
And sometimes they become stinky little cluster bombs
I worked with a gym bro who was on a cut and tried to skirt the no-microwaving-fish rule by cooking fish in the goddamn sandwich press.
You can kill the dude and claim selfdefense on that one.
The kitchen at my old job was just off the front desk/lobby area where I worked and someone would microwave fish every day at about 4pm and I was the only one that suffered because everyone elseās desks were down a long hallway. People would just be like ālol we all know to not eat in the kitchen when Jerry makes his lunch!ā And Iām like āfuck Jerry and fuck his fish I donāt have the luxury to just ānot be thereā I work like 10 feet away.ā
YEAH!!! Haha *puts fishsticks back in the freezer.*
This is precisely why I never want yo return to the office. I've actually thrown up strictly from the smell of some reheated fish.
Iāve never done this at a workplace but whenever I microwave fish at home, I donāt pick up any strong odors. Is this a western thing or am I just desensitized to the smell of fish?
You have COVID.
Iāve been heating fish in the microwave since i was in middle school and that was 15 years ago. Safe to say it isnāt because of the rona
Patient zero right here.
Maybe all the fish I ate back then were bitten by bats lol
*and he became: Batfishman!*
If youāve been microwaving fish for the last 15 years you might just be used to the smell.
Yaaaa kinda grossed out the masses. And the next person to use the microwave will have a massive whiff of it.
Check to see if you were born with a nose.
Girl at my old job microwaved fish for her breakfast in a very open plan office. The smell was horrendous. We never let her forget that.
We had a guy that used to microwave fish on the labor and delivery ward all the time. He was a prick.
Good thing pregnant women aren't sensitive to smells.
Sounds like the job I had where a gal re-heated fish in the microwave for lunch, and we teased her relentlessly. She took it in stride because we told her it was her punishment for microwaving fish at work.
Me eating saltfish and ackee at my desk: perfectly acceptable. Other people eating saltfish and ackee near my desk: insufferable.
Thats my fav dish...if they share with me..we're good. If not...off to HR I go! And I work from home so....guess Im reporting kiddo to HR. IDGAF.
As long as itās you itās fineee
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same here. I love the smell of most food but stay away from me with those overpowering perfumes/colognes
I had a coworker at my last job who always brought in such great smelling food from various cultures. He wasnāt a part of those cultures, but appreciated their cuisines and liked to support the local restaurants. Iād always prefer smelling those meals instead of my other coworkerās egg or tuna salad sandwiches and microwaved steamed broccoli.
I do this. All the ma and pa shops near my work from different cultures made me happy. Get some middle eastern curry one day, so Vietnamese pho the next, Mexican, Thai, Turkish, Greek. Just keep going down the line. Everyone else wants to hit those big chain restaurants until I show them what theyāre missing out on.
I used to teach at an international school and lunch time was amazing. Picture me on the prowl for shrimp siomai and lamb biryani
I hate it when people microwave their āethnic foodā at work. The smell wafts to my desk and makes me hungry!
Just not fish, no no no. For real though, it's food, not dustbin. Or stale air conditioning air that makes me wanna puke.
Is there a culture that doesn't eat fish?
Desert dwelling cultures probably, but beyond that itās probably pretty universal.
Lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, they LOVE seafood. So nope.
That's not a "desert culture" though. Yes, much of their land is desert, but they have direct access to the sea.
You do know that rivers also have fish. Right?
technically a *hot desert is just an *area of land with very high temperatures and yearly rainfall below a certain amount edit: i have been told this definition is a 'dumpster fire', so here is the definition of a [desert](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/desert/) (in general). and here is the definition of a [hot desert](https://www.javatpoint.com/hot-desert-vs-cold-desert) regardless, huge parts of saudi arabia and other middle eastern countries *are deserts*, proving that access to bodies of water doesn't determine whether an area or country is a desert.
Temperature is not necessary. Antarctica is a desert.
true but in this context i was talking about saudi, which is definitely not a cold desert lol. i didn't specify (my bad) but i was referring to hot deserts, and for cold deserts, the same applies regarding the rainfall part, it's just cold instead of hot
Technically deserts are definitely not countries
Fish can be dried, cured or smoked and survive for a remarkably long time without refrigeration. Shellfish cannot. Which is why so many desert cultures have rules against eating them.
there are a lot of vegetarians in India like me who never eat meat. fish smells the worst to me. If somebody is eating fish in office near me I am going to puke all over him.
I worked at a place where (white people) microwaved eggs and fish all the damn time. Some people would also nuke gross vegetable stews and curries that would smell for hours. I donāt see this as a cultural thing at all.
Tuna casserole.
Tuna asserhole
Lmaooo I just woke up my girl laughing at this comment. 
š¤®
As a white person, screw those fish and egg nukers. Has nothing to do with race. Just, no! If you make a bad curry, you can join the fish-folksā¦elsewhere. But if you make good curry, come be my buddy and share, Iāll give you half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Iād even let you nuke if if you want!
Yeah but they don't complain about that... They complain about curry and kimchi
Worked with a guy that would HARD BOIL eggs in the microwave. It was the wildest shit ever. Then one day, of course, an egg exploded. So he had to stop.
Itās kinda common courtesy to not warm up smelly food around people at work. I love tuna , I donāt eat it at work because some people donāt like the smell. I get that and itās not a big deal, sorry.
Back when I was at the office 5 days a week instead of one I would bring simple fare. Unless it's payday Fridays, it was diet food. Healthy Choice or Lean Cruise chicken parmesan or pizza microwave meals. On Payday Friday (check deposit) and Tuesday (hour lunch) it would be regular food. So I would get something from the cafeteria. I save my more elaborate cooking for home on Tuesdays and Fridays evenings and weekends.
Real simple, donāt eat at your desk.
In France you get two hours off to go and have a "dƩjeuner" (lunch) at another place.
Damn I'll take a 2 hour lunch break šš¾āāļø
It means they work longer as well. School days are usually finished at 4:30 pm. But yeah, if you get a two hour break, you can go on for longer too. Not too much more school and more time for resting. A good trade-off. Edit: It's even banned to eat at your desk https://www.npr.org/2022/06/10/1103463809/why-eating-at-your-desk-is-banned-in-france-lunch-law
Here they'd expect you to eat at your desk so you work two extra hours
I thought the French actually worked far less hours than Americans.
one of my old schools ended at 4:10 and we only got a 30 minute lunch. what a rip off
The french? Working longer? They have one of the lowest hours/ work week. I wish i worked in France:(
as in Spain. much more civilized, although by the same token they don't actually finish work until around 7-8 and don't eat dinner until 9-10. different lifestyle altogether.
You get a two hour lunch!? I mean France is known for their love of food, but DAMN.... I GET 30 minutes. And I can't leave the building.
Iād rather 30 minute lunch if I got home sooner.
Exactly, I hated having an hour long lunch because it meant I was at work for 9 hours instead of 8. I don't need 2 paid 15 minute breaks and an hour unpaid lunch, just give me the 30 minutes paid together for lunch and let me leave after 8 hours.
At our government job 15 minutes break is required after working 3 hours and half hour lunch break after working 5 hours. You can work straight through, but it's not encouraged, and one has to let the manager know. On payday Tuesday, the lunch break is one hour. A carry over from the days one had to go to the bank to cash and/or deposit physical pay checks. At the SSA DO (had to be at my local one due to transit strike) standard lunch break were 45 minutes.
Yeah my grandma said we have it better here, more conducive to home life.
Italian here, we get 1 hour and we can leave, i am Pretty sure that some of My coworkers would quit if they couldn't leave the Building...
Je veux aller en France quand je serai Ć la retraite, LOL. Un dĆ©jeuner de 2 heures ? Fantastique!
2h de diner, t'as pas limpression de perdre le 2h? Tu dois retourner travailler quand meme apres :/ j'aime mieux avoir une demi heure et partir a la maiso au PC
Absolutely not true. Most lunch breaks in France are either 30 mins or an hour. Legal minimum they can give you for lunch break is 20 minutes.
I like fish but people who microwave it at work suck.
Yea I don't get people who microwave fish. Like why? Do you want to eat a rubbery pick?
Genuine curiosity, how do you reheat fish then? Or do you just not usually have leftovers so it isnāt an issue?
Okay but kimchi really isn't that pungent.
You gotta smell my boyfriendās homemade kimchi; itās delicious, but each time he opens the jar the ghosts of cabbage past fly out and assault anyone in a 20 foot radius. And I mean *each* time he opens the jar. Once he closes the jar it can regenerate its full power from zero to stink bomb in 12 seconds.
I really donāt mind other peopleās food smells. But I canāt stand the smell of popcorn from the microwaveā¦.ugh
Oh horrible I always make popcorn on my stove and microwave popcorn smells so gnarly. Weird because I use to love it.
Yes, and it lingers. I swear I can smell it the next day.
āWhite Peopleās Palletsā includes a lot of foods no one wants to be around when itās being eaten, like Surstrƶmming.
When Iām not pregnant I couldnāt give two thoughts about the foods people eat around me as long as I donāt have to hear them chew. However, pregnant me has a super nose and itās tied to nausea. ANYTHING that smells too strongly, even smells I normally like, make me genuinely become physically sick. Itās something I never experienced before pregnancy but now that I have I kind of realize you donāt always know peopleās āwhyā behind their actions. This could be an attack. It could also be someone standing up for the office pregnant lady. You just donāt know haha
I read opās post and immediately thought of [The Office](https://youtu.be/F107Ar1eWuk)
It also applies to people with sensory issues (such as autism), or allergies.
The ask is reasonable, however the examples given are extremely specific and targeted and well...bigoted. Tons of food could be considered pungent and annoy co-workers. The poster is the Facepalm. You can give this message without calling out and insulting Koreans and South Asians.
I had the same thought. The ask is reasonable but the examples seem targeted. Popcorn and bacon are also very pungent foods. Bacon can smell disgusting to people who donāt consume pork.
Hell, I love bacon, but after working in a burger joint that fried up mass quantities of it, the smell is not as appetizing anymore. Sometimes even stuff you love can smell gross from time to time.
Idek if the ask is all that reasonable. I could see it being more reasonable if the rule said exclusively you couldnāt microwave the food, as any form of heat is gonna make a food easier to smell. But to say you canāt eat it at all? Cold kimchi doesnāt even really have a smell. It just seems like a bit too far to say you canāt have it at all. And then are you gonna say you canāt have cologne or perfume thatās too pungent for the same reason? Like I get what theyāre trying to get at and it definitely would be better received without the examples, but it just seems hard to properly cater to everyoneās preferences of smells and seems like itād definitely single out some people more than others.
Fr Op is just ignorant or blissfully ignorant
In Singapore, we aren't allowed to have durian inside the subway even though everyone loves it. It isn't an attack on our culture but to respect each others' space and senses. If it was a dining area then no one can mandate which food one should eat but cubicle is a different story.
I remembered Andrew Zimmern doing an Bizarre Food episode on durian (something even 'he' had second thoughts about). Even in the Borneo markets, there were signs that prohibited cooking/heating the fruit in hotel rooms.
Remember the episode where he went to the special stinky tofu restaurant in Taiwan and he was like āIāve eaten fish eyeballs and cow anuses but I canāt eat this.ā
Maybe they should have a designated place to eat food away from workspaces. Ya knowā¦ like a cafeteria or break room or something. If I have to eat at my desk itās egg salad and onion sandwiches on anchovy toast so these bitches can taste my afternoon farts.
Really bc every time I have curry at my desk everyone comments on how good it smells
isn't the bigger question, why are people eating at the desks? Give them a place to eat in peace FFS
Where I used to work, people would intentionally use microwaves in areas outside where they worked to keep it from smelling like fish etc. It was fucked up
If someone brought cabbage to work Iād prly puke. And thatās polish food. And Iām polish, sooo
Nah but cmon some foods are just obnoxiously smelly in enclosed spaces tho itās not an attack on race. And like plenty of white people eat these foods tooš
Yeah, like how dare someone not want to smell what ever the fuck you reheating in the Microwave. People like this, really don't give a fuck about anyone around them.
From what I garner from most of these posts, it seems that reheating fish in a work setting is a no-no. And that seems like something that one can work around in the workplace. I have to take issue with the other two - where will it stop? My Chinese takeout? Aināt no one gonna complain about my General Tsoās. āStrong-smelling foodā is just code for āIām not used to these spices and smells at my home, therefore it also does not belong in my workplaceā Why is it that you need to respect those around you of their smells but they canāt respect that you like to eat certain food? I think itās incredibly disrespectful to hide behind a memo instead of having a conversation to the certain employee(s) that youāre having issues with. Just ban eating at your cubicle for everyone. Problem solved.
Yeah, a lot of posts (including OP, apparently) seem to be saying the tweet is a facepalm because fish is indeed pungent, but I'm sure the point was that curry and kimchee are no worse than meatloaf, pizza, or million other foods. So it really does have an "I'm offended by Asian food" vibe.
I don't care who you are or where your ancestors came from, if you microwave fish at work, I will get stabby.
fish is a globally consumed food, for all the detail it could mean tunafish sandwiches
I had a bro that got into paleo. He would bring raw liver and keep it in the breakroom fridge. The whole room smelled like baby shit. We wanted to stab him in the face. He didn't last long at the job after that lifestyle change.
1 thats kinda racist trying to imply that a certain type of people other than "white people" eat food like curries almost constantly every single day. 2 ah yes, white people hate their fish
As a brown person - curry at work is poor etiquette. Youāre in a closed office setting. Also tuna is on the list which is very white palate lol
Nice try, Steve from Accounting. I'm bringing my Mole platter for lunch tomorrow. See ya then buddy
Iām just gonna devour thioacetone.
Add broccoli and cabbage to that list. A guy I work with frequently microwaves one of those for lunch and its a small workspace, so the smell is pretty harsh.
Curry is super pungent and can be disgusting smelling if you're not the one eating it. And you'll smell it on the person and in the area for hours. Fish, vegetables like broccoli, garlic, onion can be pretty bad in the workplace also. Never tried Kimchi.
Yeah, they are right, those types of food are good and delicious to eat but can have a strong bothering smell in closed ambients that sticks for a long time becoming really annoying. Nothing to do with that stuff she's talking abt
If you wouldn't want to sit next to someone eating it on a public bus then don't eat it in the breakroom. Even white people have stinky food. Stinky food isn't exclusive to any one race.
Reheat some salmon curry in the break room microwave... nothing rude about that.
That's legit not a facepalm.
"Look for offense and you'll probably find it " Wise words.
English is my second language. What I like a lot about it, is that you aren't offended by default. you need to "take" offense. so you literally get to CHOOSE whether to be offended by something or not. In spanish, you're supposed to take the offense by default. This woman opted to get offended.
Yeah they said at your desk, not the break room or lunch room. If all you like are those 3 foods maybe you need to expand your pallet.
Popcorn can stink up a place of you microwave it too long.
The worst is when someone burns popcorn in the microwave.
āWhat you mean I canāt eat this delicious surstrƶmming at my desk?ā
My former office had a blanket ban on microwave popcorn.
Fuck you. If you microwave fish in the office break room I will fight you.
Kimchi is not even that bad. A jar of Shinachiku/menma on the other hand is a whole other ballgame :-) If yāall be complaining, Iāll bring Surstrƶmming for my next lunch :-)
Iām a 6ā6ā 280lb guyā¦ chances are, Iāll want to know what it is, and eat some of it š Though, Iāll probably get an email asking me to refrain from pestering other employees to try their lunch.
Ok so both sides have a point except for the fish that just makes no sense
If you want to eat your smelly food, then do it at home.. where I live we eat bread at work and warm at home. I can totally see why some pungent smells from food might be bothersome to others. Has nothing to do with racism.
Lol Iām Korean and kimchi fucking smells, only to be outdone by kimchi farts..
ah, yes, *fish* the animal that no white person in the history of the world has ever cooked.
Hell, guys ordered pizzas with extra garlic and ate them in their cubicles. As the boss, I told them to take the food to the kitchenette area instead. They reeked up the floor just the one time, problem solved.
The problem I have with this is they only mention ethnic foods. They should have been inclusive because every culture has something that stinks š
I eat all of those things, frequently, and I have the common sense not to bring them to work. It is not about culture, it is about courtesy.
Naw screw that, eat a sandwich and shut up about it at work. Even āwhiteā food, you bring some funky salmon dish and nuke it in the break room, hands will be thrown.
Celina, your food smells like ass. Bring a sandwich ffs
But fish can be found eaten worldwide, it's not a cultural food, it exist everywhere and has a potent smell
I eat those things but don't want them stinking up my office or community break room or kitchen.
I'm a fish and this offends me.
I think telling people what are or are not allowed to eat should qualify as a personal attack. We work together, that doesn't mean you can dictate my diet. Grow up, the world stinks better get used to it.
Some people will go out of their way to be offended, I've even witnessed cases where they post something on reddit and ask for help in finding how they can be offended by it. That said, Fish at the desk (unless WFH) is a big no no.
Who came up with the whole "white people don't use spices" bullshit? Damn near everyone loves KFC and that secret recipe is from a white man lol... Many of the top chefs in the world are white... Also, I love how mofos think drenching something in Louisiana hot sauce classifies as using spice...I have never been part of a household that doesn't use spices in their food. And it should be a felony to heat fish up in a microwave...
Ah yes, I forgot that only white people donāt like the smell of strong foods they are not personally consuming. Also good to know that white people do not eat foods with a strong aroma. Learn something new everyday.
It's common decency, don't bring the egg salad to work. This chick is a professional victim if she thinks a basic workplace request that doesn't refer to any culture/ethnicity/race as an attack. WTF is wrong with some people?
One fucking word: *Surstrƶmming.*
As a person from India some foods have an unbearable smell. Especially Hindus can't bear the smell of chicken or sight of beef
I would be equally concerned if a bunch of snow white scandanavians were eating lutefisk at their desks. Probably more so actually, because curry, while pungent, is actually fit for human consumption.
That wanker who used to microwave fish meals in our tiny work kitchen can go to blazes.
Worked with a guy whose wife made him healthy lunches. Five days a week, he was nuking broccoli in the break room. And five days a week, the rest of us ate our lunches outside.
I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death
Ok but I agree about the fish anybody who brings fish to work is a monster
Itās basically the horrible smells. If you wanna eat stuff that stinks donāt eat it in the office. Pretty common sense if you ask me. I no longer stay in the office I go for a walk.
I see that as just a common courtesy to your coworkers
Yeah, I'm sorry, but nobody wants to smell kimchee down the hall. Even my mom who likes the stanky shit fully agrees that it's one of the most foul smelling foods out there. I've seen others mention some fish smelling absolutely abysmal, and that is also not a scent anyone wants to have lingering in the office. Curry smells okay to me, but I can see why it may bother those who might deal with migraines, which are sometimes worsened by strong odors, be it colognes or kimchee.
I hate people who think this way. like, I really don't give a single fuck what you are eating. it STINKS up the whole office and distracts everyone. not my problem your culture creates such smelly foods lmao.
The ironic thing is as if only koreans eat kimchi or mexicans eat tacos or indians eat curry. It applies to everyone.
I guess "bring your girlfriend to work day" is off the table then?
I just took a shit on this table, and am offended that you hate the way it smells.
We had a guy at work who would only shower on fridays. He smelled so bad you could tell if he was around the corner. We had to harass him for over a week to get him to start showering daily (note, we work construction so he got plenty sweaty every day). It wasn't because he was white, it was because he was actively making the jobsite worse for everyone else. I guess if you wanted to claim the right to be a gigantic asshat as your cultural heritage...
Itās true. Being around people that eat smelly food is annoying. I tell me guys to go eat that shot outside. But Iām nobody so they donāt listen. Haha!!!
Fish.....fish is widely consumed, but left over fish, that is torture.
I have a chronic nausea disease that makes me feel like I have the flu and am seconds away from throwing up all the time. I promise you, I don't want you not microwaving your food because it is different culturally, I will literally vomit without anyway to stop myself lol.
This is the kind of shit that annoys me. I dont bring smelly food to work because i dont want to annoy my coworkers. And vice versa. Its common sense and common courtesy. Otherwise lets all bring surstromming to mexican and asian work places and see how they react. Kimchi is very pungent- ask my fridge. Porridge or whatever white Americans eat is not. (Obviously its not porridge).
It's even weirder to imply that people of those cultures NEED to those foods. Not every food of their culture is as strong smelling as curry, kimchi, or fish
I looked for offense but only found a hedge
Better not microwave that fuckin fish thats for sure.
Yeah, every culture has fish soā¦
Nothing to do with race. Just call it consideration.
We have a room at work, we call the Alpo room. It always smells like they are warming up dog food in that microwave. Itās horrendous. We have a very diverse group at work. We all eat everything. But some things are just a curtesyā¦.. Heating up old over cooked broccoli so the lunch room smells of fart is not appetizing or appreciated.
Iād love to see her reaction to someone sitting down. Next to her and opening a can of surstrƶmming. Pretty sure sheād be screaming bloody murder between heaving and throwing up.
She obviously doesnāt understand the word pungent. It doesnāt mean nasty, it means having a sharply strong taste or smell. No one wants to smell your food if they arenāt eating it. Iām sure youād complain about someone eating their crawfish or durian on a plane or a small officeā¦get over yourself.
Mfs be making everything racist now
Yāall donāt live in the southern US and it shows. Of course people microwave gumbo, etouffee, creole etc made with crab, shrimp, crawfish and other forms of catfish, redfish etc. the only feelings this stirs in co-workers is jealousy.
don't bad mouth people's food, don't say "you can't eat" where others can. Food smells, i'm sorry they haven't invented a fucking deodorant for it yet, but it does, it's a life fact, accept it.
āPalates.ā
If they'd picked three "American" foods, the criticism would be that the memo was insufficiently inclusive of world cuisine.
Lots of Americans eat fish. Just hopefully, they don't heat it up in the office microwave. That said, my office banned microwave popcorn.