# I think I'll bring a lunch to work, put it in the fridge and forget about it: forever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628 "2014-06-12T15:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/21 "2014-06-13T16:10:33Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Bring a lunch, get fired before lunch, forget your lunch. This is the logical counterpart to the situation _I_ have faced: a thief who goes after a perfectly good lunch or dinner! The longer it stays there the worse it will get! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/22 "2014-06-13T16:19:52Z")
A co-worker was escorted to HR one morning to be told he had been “de-selected” after working there 15 years. They had eliminated his position in a cost-cutting effort. He got home, and realized he’d left that day’s lunch, a tuna sandwich, in his desk. Being a nice guy, he called the department manager’s secretary to ask her to get it and throw it out. The secretary and the boss decided he was up to no good, looking for a way to get into the building and pour coffee into PCs or something equally nefarious, so they ignored his call. Weeks later, there was a smell radiating from his desk that had penetrated the cheap plastic that formed the drawers and they had to toss the desk out. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/23 "2014-06-13T16:25:13Z")
My place just went to the clean everything out once a week too. I couldn’t be happier. What’s funny is on each one of our four fridges is a big giant sign warning you that everything in that fridge will get tossed out on X day. Yet people still complain: “Hey! You threw away my expensive such n such bag!” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/24 "2014-06-13T17:24:14Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > This is the logical counterpart to the situation _I_ have faced: a thief who goes after a perfectly good lunch or dinner! The longer it stays there the worse it will get! :eek: 😃 I’m fairly sure no one is going to steal your soapy spaghetti leftovers… you’re safe. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/25 "2014-06-13T17:28:13Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > That’s a smart tactic. Now WTF is with the people I work with who bring their lunch in a cooler and then put the whole damn thing in the fridge taking up all the space? The insulation works both ways, people! I think your sammy will probably be OK in your cooler bag for a few hours. Heck, back in the olden days when I carried a brown paper sack of lunch to school, it sat, unrefrigerated, in my locker for up to 5 hours, and I never got sick. And, yes, there was mayo on the sammich. Many years ago, I got sick of the grossly dirty office fridge (never did find out who spilled the coke and left it to puddle and dry.) I came in early with my own cleaning supplies, and I had to deal with whiny folks who weren’t even from our office - they had to wait _a whole hour_ before they could cram their crap into our fridge. That was the day I stooped using the fridge. Screw 'em all!!! ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/26 "2014-06-13T18:35:30Z")
> [@Hakuna07](#): > > Some moron left an unopened can of tuna in the fridge. I think I’ll put it in the freezer for him. just to be safe. Maybe the person likes their tuna cold. I put my fruitcups in the fridge even though they are shelf stable, because I like to eat my fruitcups cold. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/27 "2014-06-13T18:54:19Z")
Quit firing people before lunchtime! ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/28 "2014-06-13T20:02:41Z")
Our fridges don’t get too bad because we clean them out every Friday. The only things that don’t get thrown are the condiments in one fridge door because the workplace supplies them and keeps them fresh for everyone. Have any of you ever had someone else eat your lunch!? I had that happen once - packed a nice ham & swiss sammich and when I went in at lunch there was one of my coworkers happily munching it down. “What are you doing?!” I asked him and he stopped mid-chew and looked at the sandwich and then at me as if just realizing what he was doing. When he tried to hand me what was left of it I said he could finish it, and I contented myself with an apple. Now I keep my lunches in a cooler by my desk. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/29 "2014-06-13T20:14:10Z")
obligatory [friends link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2xi7B3mkr0&feature=kp) - ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/30 "2014-06-13T22:12:01Z")
I work freelance but have a number of semi regular clients. I once left a jar of homemade jam in an office fridge. When I went back to that client almost a year later it was still in the fridge even though they’d moved buildings in the meantime. Everyone knew I’d be back eventually and didn’t want to mess with my jam. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/31 "2014-06-13T23:58:02Z")
> [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](#): > > …Have any of you ever had someone else eat your lunch!?.. Yeah, about a year ago. I had made this awesome 6" sub with [smoked meat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal-style_smoked_meat) and cheese. When I went to get it, it was gone! Bastard. It had to be on purpose. It’s not like there was another leftover sandwich that could have been mistaken for mine. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/32 "2014-06-14T00:25:51Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > That’s a smart tactic. Now WTF is with the people I work with who bring their lunch in a cooler and then put the whole damn thing in the fridge taking up all the space? The insulation works both ways, people! I think your sammy will probably be OK in your cooler bag for a few hours. Gotta love the Dope. I thought I was the only person who was irritated by this behaviour. We have sod-all room in our work fridge because morons keep putting their cooler bags in the fridge. As to the OP, I also don’t get how people can ‘forget’ they left their lunch behind. I took a can of Diet Coke to work (with the rest of my lunch) last week and didn’t get time to drink it. It had a label with my name and the date on it and I drank it the next shift I worked. We’ve tossed out tons of rank food, including the tupperware compost bins containing them and the fridge still stinks. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/33 "2014-06-14T03:34:08Z")
Yeah, I used to worry about stuff like this, but after a while I realized that someone always cleans it up for me. …Okay, no, I don’t leave things in the fridge at work. But seriously, because someone really does always clean it out, why would a person who didn’t care much about forgetting food start caring? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/34 "2014-06-14T04:11:50Z")
Does your mum work with you? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/35 "2014-06-14T05:40:13Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > More employers should do what mine does: all common room refrigerators are cleared out and cleaned by the custodial staff at 6 PM every Friday. Our office too. If it’s not clearly labeled and dated, it goes out Friday after lunch. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/36 "2014-06-14T17:37:47Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I’m fairly sure no one is going to steal your soapy spaghetti leftovers… you’re safe. You just _had_ to bring that up, didn’t you?! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628/37 "2014-06-14T18:30:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Does your mum work with you? You would think so at my office. The woman whose desk is closest to the kitchen has decided she’s in charge of the fridge and microwave and all activity in or around the kitchen. She has also appointed herself Lunch Police and invariably inspects your lunch to see if it meets her exacting standards for nutrition and food safety. As you’re doing whatever prep you need to do with your food: “A boiled egg? Is that all you’re having for lunch?” “That soup smells good! Is that vegetable? Is it homemade or canned? Do you have a sandwich to go with it?” “Isn’t that the same lunch you brought yesterday? Didn’t you eat lunch yesterday? Or are you having the same thing today?” If anyone leaves things in there for too long (which, in her world, is anything more than a day), she’ll throw it out, wash the container, and return it to you with a martyred air. You aren’t allowed to, say, bring a lunch on Tuesday and neglect to eat it until Thursday. Another co-worker and I finally conspired to put a mini-fridge and microwave in the supply room so we can keep and heat our own food and eat it at our desks without anyone scrutinizing it. Then again, we clean up after ourselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ill-bring-a-lunch-to-work-put-it-in-the-fridge-and-forget-about-it-forever/690628.md?page=1)