# Workplace refrigerators - tales from the front **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973 "2015-12-09T18:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/1 "2015-12-09T18:17:24Z")
We have a work fridge that is shared by around 30 people. It is so crammed that if you arrive late-ish, you have to play Lunch Tetris just to find a slot for your PB&J. You can imagine what ends up crammed into and eventually abandoned within the deep recesses and nether areas of the fridge. So I got fed up a few months ago and elected myself Fridge Marshall. I posted a sign - giving plenty of notice - that all items must be dated and initialed. I indicated that I would routinely go through the fridge and toss anything that was more than 3 days old or anything that lacked a label. And I provided a marker and sheets of labels. (note: I had the manager’s full permission and gratitude to do this) So, when D-Day came, I cleaned house. Out when that greenberry yogurt, into the bin went that Paul Newman’s Salad Dressing that was bottled while Paul was still aboveground, into the shitcan went that hunk of what looked like, well, shit. Most cow-orkers were appreciative. Then, one day, I tossed some container of some sort of powder (didn’t pay much attention, just knew it was unmarked) and it’s owner came at me the next day with talons at the ready and murder in her eyes. Turns out it was a $30 can of protein powder. She admitted she hadn’t marked it. She admitted she had read the sign but didn’t take it seriously. She admitted that she wanted to twist my scrotum into a Clove Hitch knot. I remained calm. “Talk to the boss”, said I. There have been a few other near-murders. I tossed another person’s lunch, turns out she had no money to buy lunch. She blew off offers to help and embraced her martyrdom. She went hungry. And she doesn’t speak to me anymore. So it seems I have everyone’s support, except those dinged by the rules. I am thanked regularly. The fridge has never looked so respectable. But there are 2 or 3 folks who hate my soul to this day. I will probably retire my marshall-hood at some point - it’s a bit wearing - and the icebox will again go to hell. But until then, they’d better mark those macaroons, stamp that scampi, and delineate that deli. Mean Mr. Marshall ---
**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:** [December 9, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/2 "2015-12-09T18:33:39Z")
I worked at one company where the office refrigerator was emptied at the end of the day on Friday. This duty was assigned to the janitorial staff so none of us had to play marshal. So if labeling your own stuff is too much of a burden, perhaps a policy like that would work. Another issue are the insulated lunch bags or boxes people use now. They take up a lot of room, and some of the contents doesn’t even need to be refrigerated. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/3 "2015-12-09T18:47:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Another issue are the insulated lunch bags or boxes people use now. They take up a lot of room, and some of the contents doesn’t even need to be refrigerated. Insulated lunch bags are designed to keep cold IN, so it’s silly to put them in the fridge. You’re supposed to put a cold pack in them and keep them at your desk. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/4 "2015-12-09T19:24:17Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Another issue are the insulated lunch bags or boxes people use now. They take up a lot of room, and some of the contents doesn’t even need to be refrigerated. [/QUOTE] Ugh, yes! I’ve often wanted to put up a big sign on the fridge that insulated bags are not [tiffins](https://www.google.com/search?q=indian+tiffin+lunch+box) and should not be refrigerated. On the plus side, at my last office, the building janitorial staff handled the weekend purge. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/5 "2015-12-09T19:41:02Z")
The school system I worked for got on an energy saving kick. They even hired an energy Nazi to go through all the buildings and unplug everything over breaks and leave nasty notes for the energy hoggers. One time he unplugged a refrigerator with about a hundred dollar’s worth of class supplies which promptly spoiled and stunk up the place. We put a sign on the door that said “Biological Science Specimens inside- do not turn off!” I think the guy also got rebuked by our principal. Problem didn’t happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/6 "2015-12-09T19:47:49Z")
In our office each break area has two fridges. The fridges are completely cleaned out every other Friday, there’s a sign on the fridge that tells you the day it’s going to be emptied. One fridge is cleaned out each Friday, so if you have something you want to keep you can move it from one fridge to the next every week, but you have to do this, or all contents of that particular fridge are thrown out. No labels, no initials, no complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/7 "2015-12-09T20:54:34Z")
I can’t help but notice that you haven’t posted in [If murder was legal - would you still be alive?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777285) But apparently we now know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/8 "2015-12-09T21:25:35Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > In our office each break area has two fridges. The fridges are completely cleaned out every other Friday, there’s a sign on the fridge that tells you the day it’s going to be emptied. One fridge is cleaned out each Friday, so if you have something you want to keep you can move it from one fridge to the next every week, but you have to do this, or all contents of that particular fridge are thrown out. No labels, no initials, no complaining. This sounds like a capital idea, assuming there is enough room in one fridge to hold everything (although, on the weekend, maybe you should be taking your juice box and Twinkie home with you). mmm ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/9 "2015-12-10T00:49:25Z")
Hate the old ninnies at work that gasp when I don’t refrigerate my lunch. Yeah lady, my sandwich is really going to spoil by 12 after taking it out of my home fridge at 730 am. Human history began in 1950 with the popularization of electric fridges. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/10 "2015-12-10T00:52:09Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Insulated lunch bags are designed to keep cold IN, so it’s silly to put them in the fridge. You’re supposed to put a cold pack in them and keep them at your desk. Or you could skip the cold pack and eat a room temperature lunch. You won’t die, I promise. Might even taste better. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/11 "2015-12-10T02:06:35Z")
I went through my entire childhood eating bologna and cheese sandwiches that hung in brown paper bag in my school locker for hours. Come to think of it, I actually preferred them at room temperature. mmm ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/12 "2015-12-10T14:31:25Z")
Apropos of nothing, this… > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > She admitted that she wanted to twist my scrotum into a Clove Hitch knot. …is a marvelous piece of literature and I will keep and cherish it until I can find an appropriate use for it. As to the thread, we have three (3!!) refrigerators in our break room and true to form, they all get filled up despite the expanse of space. And the rules are pretty much the same, mark them or they get tossed the following Monday. So far I have not witnessed any new lifeforms emerging from them, so I presume most everybody is following the rules. Good luck, Mr Marshall, and watch your back!! ---
**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:** [December 10, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/13 "2015-12-10T16:54:59Z")
Anyone else ever work with someone who’d pack the freezer full of their Lean Cuisine selections? Or half-gallon jugs of juice on the fridge? Always someone who didn’t learn the concept of sharing space when they were in kindergarten… ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/14 "2015-12-10T17:08:07Z")
I’m very impressed with new/current work location; there is an 8x11 custom magnet listing the dates fridge will be cleaned out for the year (first Fri of month) along with the details (cleaning Co is not responsible for…) ---
**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:** [December 10, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/15 "2015-12-10T17:15:31Z")
[Livin’ In The Fridge.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhTgzx-LjJY) ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/16 "2015-12-10T18:40:33Z")
re: the insulated bags. My company does not allow food to be anywhere except in the fridge. Not at desks, not in lockers, not on the counter. We have weather of 100+ degrees and a lot of the place is not air conditioned or barely air conditioned. so leaving it out in the summer is a really bad idea. I don’t use them personally because everyone else puts open drinks and leaking containers in there and they are too hard to clean. I use a plastic grocery bag. re: not sharing. I bring a weeks worth of sandwich making stuff. it takes up way less room than the 12 or so MacDonald’s cups perched precariously on the wire shelving and then there is the snack size bag of chips that were partially eaten and left for days. Frozen dinners that are there from Monday until toss out on Friday. I Have one bag with bread, mustard, cheese and sliced chicken to make a sandwich fresh each day. I have noticed more people are doing this now. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/17 "2015-12-10T20:56:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I worked at one company where the office refrigerator was emptied at the end of the day on Friday. This duty was assigned to the janitorial staff so none of us had to play marshal. So if labeling your own stuff is too much of a burden, perhaps a policy like that would work. > > Another issue are the insulated lunch bags or boxes people use now. They take up a lot of room, and some of the contents doesn’t even need to be refrigerated. I’ve worked at places where there was a similar policy. Too damn bad you forgot your stuff. Another place, the admin let everyone know a week in advance that she was tossing everything Friday afternoon. And a cow-orker got really upset when her bottle of salad dressing was gone come Monday morning, and came to me for sympathy. “But, the sign said it would be thrown out” I offered helpfully. “I never thought that meant stuff like condiments!”, she whined. Right. So ketchup older than my firstborn, salad dressing older than my marriage, green mayonnaise. all deserve a place in the shared fridge. :dubious: These are doubtless the same kind of people who would, when someone brings in an ice tray and bin, pry out ice cubes (with their bare fingers), and leave the 3/4 empty tray in the freezer section. I had brought in my own tray and bin, for my own use (but had zero objection to others using the ice, if they just bothered to refill the tray). I wound up getting rid of the tray/bin because I was sick of going to the freezer and not having any ice. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/18 "2015-12-10T21:00:41Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Anyone else ever work with someone who’d pack the freezer full of their Lean Cuisine selections? Or half-gallon jugs of juice on the fridge? Always someone who didn’t learn the concept of sharing space when they were in kindergarten… :::sheepishly raises hand::: OK, I never had more than a few LCs in the freezer (I didn’t hog the space, as it was barely used and I took no more than half). And there was the _one_ time I had a huge meat/cheese tray, with a sign saying “don’t touch”… but that was to take to a funeral home after work so I claim duress. > [@Mean Mr. Mustard](#): > > I went through my entire childhood eating bologna and cheese sandwiches that hung in brown paper bag in my school locker for hours. combo > > Come to think of it, I actually preferred them at room temperature. > mmm Excellent combo of post and sig 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/19 "2015-12-11T14:22:03Z")
I once had to put up a [recipe](http://www.food.com/recipe/ice-cubes-420398)for ice cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973/20 "2015-12-11T14:29:23Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > The school system I worked for got on an energy saving kick. They even hired an energy Nazi to go through all the buildings and unplug everything over breaks and leave nasty notes for the energy hoggers. One time he unplugged a refrigerator with about a hundred dollar’s worth of class supplies which promptly spoiled and stunk up the place. We put a sign on the door that said “Biological Science Specimens inside- do not turn off!” I think the guy also got rebuked by our principal. Problem didn’t happen again. Heh, am I the only one who thought of [Steve Raucci](http://ryanlamb.blogspot.com/2011/11/steve-raucci-case-study-in-power.html)? You didn’t work in Schenectady, did you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-refrigerators-tales-from-the-front/739973.md?page=2)