So, at work, there are two microwaves. I’ve gotten into the habit of bringing two of things for lunch: two burritos, two breakfast wraps, two egg rolls, like that. Nothing that takes more than two minutes to heat. For whatever reasons, the heating instructions specify to do one at a time. If I get to the microwaves and there’s no one else there, I’ll put half my lunch in one and start heating it. If no one comes when the first half is 50% done I’ll pop the other half in the other microwave. At no time am I engaging both microwaves for more than 60 seconds. So far no one’s come up while I’m engaging both microwaves, but I guess inevitably someone will.
So, if you found yourself encountering me in this situation, do you find this:
A) Not rude?
B) Slightly rude but no big deal because it’s only a minute or less?
C) Slightly rude and kind of a big deal?
D) Really rude but not worth getting into a confrontation about?
E) Really rude and you’re going to confront me about it?
F) The greatest breaach of office etiquette imaginable? or
G) Something else?
I could care, it makes perfect sense to me, and would be self evident as soon as I realized you had two burritos, egg rolls or whatever. Anyone who’s used a microwave would know why you’re doing it this way.
I think you’re being quite courteous by limiting the double usage to one minute. Personally, I think you’re doing it exactly right. If you were to tie up both from the start, you might tick people off. But this is a very slight inconvenience at worst, and it’s more likely that someone will come in when your first item has 30 seconds or less to go.
If people are in so much of a hurry that they can’t wait one minute, they’ve got bigger problems than you and your breakfast burritos bogarting the microwaves.
Probably more towards A, but as long as you stay in the room with your food, and you allow me as much access(to sink, microwave, refridgerator, trashcan, whatever) as reasonable and practical it isn’t a big deal. A quick apology of the kind that people don’t really mean but which help grease the wheels of society wouldn’t hurt. Not even really an apology, just admit that you are using both microwaves at once, because you are more afraid of failing to follow the heating instructions than you are of being censured for selfishness in using both microwaves at once.
Not rude. I do it nearly every morning when I heat up oats for my husband and I. It’s quicker to do one bowl in each microwave, and since it’s usually around 8 am, not many people are about. Sometimes I do the same thing if we have soup or chili for lunch. If someone comes in, though, and I’m not done, I free up one microwave. The person always says I don’t have to, though … it’s just a minute.
It’s a microwave and pretty fast anyway! No one will care unless you’re purposely being an ass, which is sounds like you definitely are not.
The more I think about this, the more I think that in my first response, I confused how annoying would this be with how rude it would be. The “correct” answer to how annoying is somewhere between extremely mildly to not so mildly but never more than moderately–given all other details as you’ve presented them. But if you aren’t actually preventing someone from using a microwave, I’m not sure why it would be rude.
I’ll tell you what is rude, at least I thought it was (about B.5 on the rudeness scale the OP provided). There are six microwaves at my workplace, so having to wait on one is rare. What does happen is that sometimes a person may forget which microwave they put their food in. As people will often do, they might open the door before the cycle is completed to see if their food is hot enough that further cooking is not necessary. When someone accidentally pre-empts the timer on someone else’s food they should resume the cycle for that person.
This happened to me just today. I started my soup and went across the break room to get a soda and some ice and some chips or pretzels. By the time I get back I expect my soup to be ready or at least within 15 seconds of being ready. When I checked the microwave I was using I saw that someone else had interrupted the cook cycle (I presume they opened the door by mistake, thinking it was theirs), but they didn’t restart it for me, so I had to wait another 1:14, which is not a lot of time, I realize, but the fact of the matter is, the person who presumably interrupted the cycle should have restarted it.
No, not rude at all.
If you ever run into the situation where someone approaches to use one I’d probably apologize but by the time your done apologizing the timer will have gone off.
No harm, no foul.
It would probably be different if you were defrosting a turkey in each one.
Not rude…though I find it sort of surprising that no one else finds it rude, either. This sort of thing rarely ruffles my feathers. But then, either does check writing at the grocery store or putting 18 items in the 15 and under lane. I put all these “infractions” in the same pile. No big deal to me.
I’d go with B if I were to walk up while you had both machines tied up, even if only for a minute, because sometimes a couple of minutes are all I can spare away from my desk to heat something. But it wouldn’t be any big deal, or even more than a mildly irritating thing.
At first I thought a little rude, but I re-read the OP, and I’m kind of changing my mind. to not rude.
But the far bigger deal is that you follow the directions to microwave the things one at a time. I’d never let the Man tell me how to microwave two goddamn burritos.
Then again, it’s some hypothetical user in the OP that can’t wait one extra minute, either. Following your own logic, wouldn’t that be a problem, too?
I guess in theory, B, very slightly rude. But in practice, A. I can be a stickler about some things, but I can’t see one measly minute bothering me at all.
