# This fellow in my office.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236 "2018-01-22T20:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/1 "2018-01-22T20:12:56Z")
I’m in the kitchen about to heat up my lunch. This fellow comes in, takes a plastic knife out of the drawer, pierces the plastic film of his frozen entree, then throws the knife in the trash. The knife gets about .5 seconds of use before it is thrown away. Really?!? You can’t just lift the corner of the film and not add another plastic knife to the landfill? ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/2 "2018-01-22T20:42:01Z")
You should disparage him, take the knife out of the garbage and wash it off and put it back into the drawer. ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/3 "2018-01-22T20:42:04Z")
I always lift the corner. But then I also do not stir at the recommended time, or turn them. Yes I am Sveltington who laughs at directions, rules and laws! HA! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/4 "2018-01-22T20:51:53Z")
The building my school is in is about 25 years old. For 25 years, people have been buying packs of assorted cutlery and putting them in the cabinet in the teacher’s lounge. The knives get used at a fraction of the speed of the forks and spoons, but people keep buying the assorted packs because you can’t generally buy “spoons and forks” or something. No one ever throws out the knives because they are perfectly good. We have THOUSANDS. Boxes and boxes. It’s comical. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/5 "2018-01-22T21:02:09Z")
Whoa … first world problems … Bring your own metal cutlery from home, then bring them back and wash them … you could use the same one for years and years … no waste in the landfill because once your metal cutlery wears out, it can be recycled and made into new cutlery … I just used the tools in my toolbox, a nail puller makes for the perfect spork, just a little sharp but with care it’s fine, and who cares if there’s a bit of potato salad smeared on a bent nail anyway … ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/6 "2018-01-22T21:08:59Z")
> [@StrTrkr777](#): > > You should disparage him, take the knife out of the garbage and wash it off and put it back into the drawer. I’d drive the knife through the back of his hand while he sits at his desk eating the lunch he just heated up. It lends the delivered message a nice sort of symmetry. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/7 "2018-01-22T21:11:29Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > The building my school is in is about 25 years old. For 25 years, people have been buying packs of assorted cutlery and putting them in the cabinet in the teacher’s lounge. The knives get used at a fraction of the speed of the forks and spoons, but people keep buying the assorted packs because you can’t generally buy “spoons and forks” or something. No one ever throws out the knives because they are perfectly good. We have THOUSANDS. Boxes and boxes. It’s comical. I noticed the same thing at my office. (Except that you can buy boxes of just spoons or just forks.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/8 "2018-01-22T21:18:33Z")
Yes you can get giant boxes of just sporks. Also, donate the knives to the art dept. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/9 "2018-01-22T21:22:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Yes you can get giant boxes of just sporks. Also, donate the knives to the art dept. Oh, that makes Waayyyyy too much sense. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/10 "2018-01-22T21:27:41Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’d drive the knife through the back of his hand while he sits at his desk eating the lunch he just heated up. > > It lends the delivered message a nice sort of symmetry. It’s a _plastic_ knife. Even if it does penetrate all the way through, it won’t pin his hand to the counter top. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/11 "2018-01-22T21:32:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It’s a _plastic_ knife. Even if it does penetrate all the way through, it won’t pin his hand to the counter top. As you say, it’s _only_ a plastic knife. No need to also ruin the table top. Proportional response is key in all things. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/12 "2018-01-22T22:04:17Z")
A camping solution comes to mind: Take a plastic knife and label it “frozen food film piercer” or somesuch, then poke a hole in the handle and attach a string, and tie onto the microwave door. Akin to a bottle opener attached to the cooler. Or, just attach a bottle opener to the microwave - then it will have multiple uses. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/13 "2018-01-23T00:21:12Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > Really?!? You can’t just lift the corner of the film and not add another plastic knife to the landfill? While I agree with your sentiment, the instructions say to cut the film, so raising the corner isn’t an option for me. I cut the film with the metal fork I will be eating with, but only because our office has done away with buying plastic cutlery. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/14 "2018-01-23T00:36:11Z")
Sharpened plastic knives can do incredible damage. They brought down four airplanes in one day seventeen years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/15 "2018-01-23T01:00:15Z")
Forgot about that. Maybe they shouldn’t give them to kids in art class. In fact maybe they should be outlawed. Plastic knives, who knew? ---
**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:** [January 23, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/16 "2018-01-23T01:40:45Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Sharpened plastic knives can do incredible damage. They brought down four airplanes in one day seventeen years ago. Those knives surely weren’t plastic, were they? ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/17 "2018-01-23T02:41:41Z")
No, box cutters. The plastic handled things with slide out/snap off metal blades. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/18 "2018-01-23T03:04:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Those knives surely weren’t plastic, were they? > [@Sasquatch](#): > > No, box cutters. The plastic handled things with slide out/snap off metal blades. It’s been 17 years. It’s about time the story comes out. They were sharpened plastic knives. The box cutter story is one of the best story lines ever. The media ate it up without question. But even in 2001, getting metal box cutters through security was problematic, not to mention the sheer knowledge the same type of plastic knife you got with your airline snack/meal could bring down a plane. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/19 "2018-01-23T05:19:02Z")
I have heard this too. Not sure if my CT believing son told me or if I read it somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236/20 "2018-01-23T08:47:08Z")
Ann Coulter called it right (god help us): “Airlines need to get those cockpit doors fortified. I’ll take my chances with guys with box cutters.” (Approx. quote, from memory.) (ETA: She also wrote: “Why don’t we all just fly naked?”) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-fellow-in-my-office/807236.md?page=2)