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Mugs in the office

90 replies

HotChocolateLover · 10/10/2019 07:30

Lighthearted Would you take someone else’s mug in the office which has their name printed on it?!! I had to rescue mine from someone’s desk which was half filled with cold coffee yesterday and think it’s really rude, especially as there are plenty of other cups. The offender didn’t even wash it up and didn’t apologise. It was a present from my husband. Will she be rooting through my handbag next time??!!

OP posts:
HotChocolateLover · 10/10/2019 16:18

If you're putting it in the communal kitchen, with all the other communal mugs, how the hell is someone supposed to know its not to be used?

Because it’s got my name on it!!

OP posts:
mrsm43s · 10/10/2019 16:28

Because it’s got my name on it

So what? It's in the place for communal mugs to be used by everyone, all of which have an assortment of names, pictures, patterns and images on them. If it is in the communal mug cupboard, it is reasonable to assume that it is for communal use, regardless of design.

Doobigetta · 10/10/2019 18:21

If someone had taken it from your desk that would be really rude and wrong. I personally wouldn’t use a “name” mug from a communal kitchen, but I’d also never leave anything of mine lying around in a shared space, even just draining for a few minutes, because it’s well known that other people are nasty, dirty, thieving CFs. If you care about your things, don’t leave them where fuckers can take them or people on them.

HotChocolateLover · 10/10/2019 19:34

@mrsm43s Well we’ll have to agree to disagree then.

OP posts:
Ithinkwerealonenowtiffany · 10/10/2019 19:37

Id use my own mug. I don’t drink tea/coffee at work (no time to enjoy it whilst hot) but looking at the mugs they aren’t white and clean inside. They are washed but stained🤮

Id keep my own in my drawer

Dandelion1993 · 10/10/2019 19:46

No way!

We all have our own mugs we've brought in at various points then some big standard argos home ones that we offer out to visitors

ThinkWittyThoughts · 10/10/2019 19:52

Reminds me of a strange woman in our office.

She went to the cupboard to get a mug to keep pens on her desk. Did she chose one of the immaculate, clean, brightly coloured mugs? No.

She selected the mug that was a Father's Day gift to one of the team leaders from his kids, with their photos on it.

He found it. Replaced it. And SHE got shirty!!!??!

It takes all sorts to make a world, but some of them are batshit.

For those pp saying "it's in the communal cupboard" do you hang your coats on coat hooks or stands? Would it be acceptable for someone to take your coat, wear it outside, and then leave it on the back of their chair for you to hunt down when you wanted to use it?
No it bloody wouldn't.

wtffgs · 10/10/2019 19:55

My mug was a present from much-loved rellies. It gets put in my locker at night. I feel no shame.

The problem isn't someone using it - it's chipping or breaking it through carelessness or leaving it to grow a biohazard of coffee remnants Envy

They cost a quid in Wilko. Some people are too tight/lazy/mighty to buy crockery though

I always hunt down a spare for a newbie or temp though.

HotChocolateLover · 10/10/2019 20:46

@ThinkWittyThoughts Great analogy with the coats!

OP posts:
LoyaltyBonus · 10/10/2019 20:52

I think it depends on the culture in the organisation.

Where I work now everyone has their own mugs, will wash them up and take them back to their desk. Therefore, any left in the staffroom are "spares". Some have names on but they will belong either to staff who've left or staff who have abandoned them for a new mug.

In most places I've worked mugs are just mugs and you use whatever's clean TBH.

Ninkaninus · 10/10/2019 20:56

I guess I’m a little odd in that respect as well, then - I hang my coat or jacket over the back of my chair (which also is clearly marked as being mine), or if it’s too long I fold it and place it on my desk.

DappledThings · 10/10/2019 21:07

Great analogy with the coats

It really isn't. Coats are hugely different styles, weights, sizes and colours. They are worn by an individual and arrive and leave with that person each day. If they are left on a communal hook it is because that is the storage point. There is no expectation that anyone will wear a coat at multiple times in the day

Mugs are basically all the same and can be used in the same way by anyone. If left in a communal cupboard they are being left for communal use. Unlike coats there is an expectation that they will be used by multiple people throughout the day.

And lots of people have also said like me that they really wouldn't notice a name or of they did assume you weren't that bothered about it because you'd left in a communal space.

ExpletiveDelighted · 10/10/2019 21:10

The coat thing is totally different, for one thing there aren't any communal coats, also they wouldn't fit anyone else and you take them home.

Likethebattle · 10/10/2019 21:32

In my last office (30ish people) the cleaner gathered the mugs each night and put them through the dishwasher. My special mug went missing completely so I think it had got broken and I was annoyed about it. Everyone had there own mugs and the spare ones for clients, newbies etc were kept on a separate shelf.

In one workplace we had branded mugs which were highly sought after due to the company. We rented the ground floor to another company and they had loads of the branded mugs on their desks. They used our kitchen as they didn’t have one on their floor. My boss put a teabag in her personalised (Non company)cup and nipped to the loo whilst waiting for the kettle to boil....it vanished. A few months later she was walking through the ground floor and saw one of the other (chavvy company) drinking from her mug. She matched straight over and snatched it out of his hand (it still had half a warm drink) ‘I think you’ll find young man that this crockery belongs to me and was stolen!’ He nearly choked!

cosytoaster · 10/10/2019 21:43

I have my own mug, I chose a nice one that I would enjoy using...it lives on my desk (along with my personal spoon*) and I would be most displeased if anyone else made free with it.
*I also keep my own knife, fork and bigger spoon for soup in my drawer as I can't bear to use the communal ones)

NatashaAlianovaRomanova · 10/10/2019 21:52

Every office I've worked (admittedly small businesses) in all mugs have been kept in the kitchen & it's known that they're not for communal use - the girl currently pinching mine is new to an office environment so I put it down to her not knowing the rules.

As for cleaning them I know what pp's mean it's a bug bear of mine so once a week I give all the regularly used mugs a proper wash.

HotChocolateLover · 10/10/2019 21:56

The reason I like the coat analogy (just to clarify) is that my indignation is about my property being used without my permission. I brought it in for me and don’t want to share.

OP posts:
Coffeeandchocolate9 · 10/10/2019 21:59

Thanks for this thread. I now work in an office which decided years ago that employees having favourite mugs was twattish and stocked the kitchen with identical plain white ones. I sometimes lament having a mug of my own in the office, but after reading this thread I'm good again! Grin

Ninkaninus · 10/10/2019 22:02

So keep it on your desk, or put a little note in it! You can rage about it all you like but if it’s in a communal cupboard then rightly or wrongly some people are always going to assume it’s fair game. For all they know you could have won it on some ghastly work bonding retreat or something!

If you work in a small team, fair enough, tell everybody that it’s yours and they’re not to use it. If that’s not feasible then you have to take steps to protect your property from people either don’t think your way or dgaf.

Ninkaninus · 10/10/2019 22:04

*who either don’t think your way or dgaf.

I worked in an office of 150+ and you learn very quickly that there are some really odd and/or unpleasant people around, and you can’t take it for granted that everyone will be likeminded.

musicposy · 10/10/2019 22:10

Since I've been reading this thread an advert for "fairy professional solutions for kitchens" has come up on my sidebar. Anyone else? Clearly the advertising powers that be think we should all just wash up and shut up.

I'm even precious about my own mugs at home. Poor DH can never remember which ones are meant to be mine!

FairiesontheSwing · 10/10/2019 22:23

I have a huge, tall ceramic mug with a removable lid which is Harry Potter themed. Colleagues have commented on its laudable ability to hold an enormous amount of coffee safely while rushing around. I lock it away and keep half an eye on the mug fanciers.

ThinkWittyThoughts · 11/10/2019 06:52

If they are left on a communal hook it is because that is the storage point. There is no expectation that anyone will wear a coat at multiple times in the day

This made me laugh. This is EXACTLY why the coat analogy works. The kitchen is the storage point for mugs. If I left a mug on my desk, even if it was clean, our cleaners would still run through the dishwasher and put away in the cupboard.

And your office may not have an expectation for wearing a coat multiple times a day, but mine does.

Finally, your point about mugs all being basically the same... so are coats. If you have a personalised mug with your whole name on it, I think it's pretty bloody obvious it's not for everyone to use.

TroysMammy · 11/10/2019 07:03

HotChocolateLover I'm with you on this one. Pps who can't see anything wrong are probably those who commit the crime. I have mugs for different times of the year, I''ll be using my Halloween mug in 2 weeks time.

Ninkaninus · 11/10/2019 09:10

No, the coat analogy doesn’t work at all because the two aren’t equivalent by any means...

If, let’s say, half of the people in the office shared a store of communal coats, all of various types and descriptions and with a range of appliqués such as first name, initial, famous characters, titles such as Best Mum or Favourite Teacher, but everyone knew that they were free for anyone to use, then one could argue that if someone chose to hang their strictly non-communal coat in the designated place of storage for communal coats, they couldn’t necessarily expect everyone to realise that that one specific coat was not for communal use, even if it was marked with a full name. Especially if the coat was well-known as a gift item that many people find quite obnoxious, become overrun with and very often do bring in to the office for the express purpose of being used by others. Then I might relate that to my argument.

But since that isn’t what happens with coats, it’s not really a valid analogy on either side of the debate.

Again, I’m going to stress I’m not saying it’s right to use named mugs unless you know the person doesn’t care, but some people will quite reasonably have a different view. We tend to presume that other people are like minded to us when that’s really not a given. You seem to be getting caught on the point that people should just know that it’s yours and for your use only, when actually office mug culture doesn’t work that way (no, not even if it has your full name printed on it, and actually, probably less so) and if you want it to be for your exclusive use you need to fall in with the way things are seen by a significant portion of the office population. That’s just how it works, and it’s pointless arguing about it here - even if everyone agreed with you it still wouldn’t make everyone in your specific office see it that way, which is where the real issue is.

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