At a guess, she was used to her wimpy 900-watt home microwave that took four minutes to pop a bag, and the 1500W unit at work had it incinerated in two. VERY common with people who have never encountered a high-power microwave, or just don’t think about microwaves being different. It’s not too unusual to see handwritten signs on break-room microwaves: “ONE MINUTE MAX FOR POPCORN” etc.
My old job did this. Part of it was all the complaints about smells, noisy food (smacking, crunching, etc), part was that they’d spent a ton on the new building to provide places to eat - we had a cafeteria on the first floor, four break rooms with seating areas, vending machines, and microwaves, and two additional counter-only areas. The staff had two 15 minute breaks and an hour for lunch, but we still had people sneaking food at their desks. It killed me how one-way people were - “You’re going to write me up for a Snickers?” “You’re going to risk your $50k/year* job* for a Snickers? That you could have eaten ten feet away?” :rolleyes:
Same reason people roast peanuts in the office microwave.
They likes to eat dat dare food. 
I love popcorn and fresh roasted peanuts. Fix both occasionally at the office.
That used to be a problem in our office. I don’t know what happened, either the popcorn eaters left or they have an unwritten rule, but I haven’t seen/smelled any popcorn cooking in the last 5 years or so. Thank goodness.
Side Trivia: I hate popcorn*, my wife loves it. We’ve been married 49 years. Go Figure. :eek:
*I will eat it at the movies only.
What??? You can roast peanuts in a microwave??? How come nobody ever told me?!?!
Microwave peanuts are easy. Glass bowl, some raw shelled peanuts, a pat of butter and about 6 minutes for a small amount. You do need to stir about every two minutes.
here’s a formal recipe. I never made a big batch like this. I make maybe a half cup of peanuts at work. Just a nice handful.
Your eventually and mine might differ in duration. I find it lingers for a very long time. It doesn’t even have to be burnt. All microwaved popcorn has a very acrid smell to me.
Hold up. Lets be fair. Even to those of us to whom Indian cuisine in general smells fantastic, not all of it smells fantastic.* My next door neighbors are an Indian family. They do quite a lot of entertaining and often I can smell the aromas of their cooking. Much, even most, of it smells fantastic to me. Once every couple of months or so though they cook something that smells to me like they’re roasting post workout gym clothes. Maybe Morgenstern’s office mate made that same dish a LOT.
*I suspect not all of any cuisine smells fantastic, even to its staunchest proponent.
I’m not saying no regrettable food odors have ever come from my house. Of all the things she cooks my ex’s favorite thing his mom makes is stuffed cabbage. She’d send a tray home with him when he visited. He’d heat it in the microwave. I’m sorry neighbors. If he’d ever held a job I suspect he’d have heated it in the work microwave and someone would be posting about him.
This is very close to my experience.
Wait. She nearly burned the place down AND she sued them? He probably shouldn’t have used swear words, but come on. Please tell me the suit was dismissed.
You can roast coffee beans in an air popper, too. Start with good beans and you will NEVER have a better cuppa joe.
What the hell are people cooking that causes others to have migraines or throw up?
This. I’m glad I don’t have any scent aversions. Well, maybe if they were nuking horse shit or something.
Rick on Pawn Stars put ChumLee’s new desk right beside the bathroom. 
Now thats a smelly day at work. LOL
I might have a new best friend.
What is that???
I live in an apartment building and most of the tenants are from Africa and India. They cook the most fantastic smelling food. It’s all I can do to not knock on the doors and ask if I can join them for dinner.
But every so often they cook something that I’ve decided is boiled, rotten sheep’s brain. It smells so vile that I have to open the windows in the middle of a Canadian winter. The smell of it stays strong for so long that I have to hold a kleenex with some Vicks on it up to my nose when I go to bed.
This is on my list of things I find weird about America. I don’t think, here in Australia, I have ever seen anyone consume popcorn anywhere other than at a movie or in a private home. Certainly no microwave in our offices has ever been sullied by popcorn.
Because they are stupid.
Note: while I generally like the person whom I last saw putting popcorn in the microwave, I do think it’s kinda silly to say “ooh gross” and put the popcorn in the microwave. (Even though the gross stuff inside the microwave isn’t expected to get inside the package with the popcorn). Also, I’m cranky in her general direction because of non-popcorn related stupidity today.
Horse shit is relatively pleasant smelling, like most herbivore poop. Not that I’d want to consider nuking it* but there are far worse things to toss in there.
I suspect that if I microwaved one of my Dane’s dumps I’d turn the neighborhood into a Superfund site.
- Especially as my microwave flashes a cheery ENJOY YOUR MEAL message when you open the door. I’ve often wondered if anyone uses this model in labs, nuking things like puree of rat brain and such.
Do microwaves not come with a “popcorn” button any more? My old-ass wave at home cooks the stuff perfectly with that setting. But I don’t eat microwave popcorn any more, ever since I bought a whirly-pop about three years ago, I can’t stand the pre-packaged stuff and prefer to make my own on the stove. The flavor difference is profound, and I just can’t eat it now that I’m not used to it any more.
Back when I worked at a high-rise office, a ban on microwave popcorn had to be implemented due to the one person who liked to burn her popcorn and eat it burnt. Weirdo.
I have to add a WHAT IS THAT?! too, I love Indian food but there is like one certain spice that smells like MUSTY old clothes being torched, like a homeless guy’s socks being cooked. There is one certain food court in a mall I can smell from the street.
I’ll take microwave popcorn over microwave fish any day. There’s a guy at work who would bring leftover fish to work every! single! day! And it seemed like he would deliberately time his lunch break to match mine, so I couldn’t even escape it by eating earlier or later.
Eventually some anonymous lunch vigilante posted a sign along the lines of “Do not microwave any stinky fish in this kitchen” and he stopped bringing it.
I don’t believe you.