To think this is so AGEING

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Being over-specific about how you want your hot drink. Don't do it! You can choose milk and/or sugar. That's it. Any further instruction makes you sound like you buy your shoes from an insert in the Telegraph weekend supplement.

'Just dunk the bag and take it out quickly could you?'/'Not too much milk, please'/'just the one sugar, but if you could make it a smallish spoon'/'I prefer a good slug of milk'.

Urgh. Verbal varicose veins.

This thread took me back to my old staff nurse days when a junior nurse after bring told to clean the bed pans in the sluice informed me that 'she wasn't getting a nursing degree to clean bed pans'

She cleaned the sluice every afternoon during visiting when on my shift.

Take care op they might have twigged you not keen on the tea making and yanking your chain.

I have excellent attention to detail. In fact, it is those close analytical skills that make me so confident in my observation.

Why not just serve a pot of tea and some milk and sugar on the side? It's much easier for you than making loads of individual cups, and people can make it exactly how they like it for themselves. And it avoids all those hierarchical tea-making assumptions.

I think there's something nice about a communal pot of something too. The action of passing it around somehow encourages people to see themselves together. I'm always impressed by this at meetings in Denmark - where they also have amazing designer coffee and tea-making stuff in communal areas.

Perhaps your analytical skills could be put to good use explaining what the problem is with being old?

Oh dear. An over-confident, ageist young 'un. How tedious.

A-Ha!! I've got it now! Clearly I should go and get a life rather than reading several pages of this fred to catch up

This is NOT about tea or other beverages.

This is NOT about age. Or fussiness.

This is about one lone person having to make tea for a large number of other people. Which is an unreasonable expectation to place on anybody.

'Junior employee' you say, OP? Is 'Making Tea' part of your job description? Training? Is this what you do?
If it is, you should be supplied with the tools to do it to your tea requesters preference: you'd need a wee waitress's order pad, a pencil behind your ear and one of those handy apron thingies with the pocket at the front. You'd have a kitchen or kitchenette at least, a trolley to go round everybody, there'd be a time allowance for you to do it all.

As is it I suspect your role is Another and being 'junior' you've told this is what you do as well and you are sucking it up as it's expected of you, but you are seething internally and that is what has led to your observation.
I wonder how much observational bias there is? How many young/older people do you serve? Do the awkward more demanding ones stick more in your mind than the 'easy' ones??

I feel some scientific rigour needs to be applied to this hypothesis

I was chief facilitator of beverages in my work place despite my seniority, new members to the team were often bemused to be presented with the tea chart (like the one linked above) where they had to write their name under colour of preference and what sugars were required. Coffee went on the side.

It lived by the drinks station, meaning that then all one had to do was write down what the team wanted to drink before going for a gossip at the drinks / photocopier station.

Then when I was pregnant something terrible happened and I lost my ability to make drinks.

Despite my writing a list you were more than likely to get a random soup or hot chocolate for no reason whatsoever. Or three teas.

The buggers got HR to knock me up a medical exception certificate excusing me from the tea run until I'd birthed my baby

But the system lived on successfully.

Your system sounds great HoneyDragon

I'd rather have cold water than weak milky tea. I've always been fussy about my drinks. I don't think it's aging. If I offer someone a drink I'd like them to enjoy it otherwise why bother offering.

OP YABU but I think you know that by now . Look how people behave in coffee shops with their no fat no foam with whip vanilla venti mocha caffelattechinos . I like a flat white or a latte with extra
shot and daredent ask for anything more complicated than that. I probably need it extra hot but always forget to ask. And WTF is it with anywhere that sells hot chocolate only ever sells it luke warm .

Surprised no-one has mentioned temperature. I like my tea and coffee scalding hot. Any cooling and I cannot drink it - see above. Tea is much better in a pot so bag in a mug will be judged. I don't care what type of teabags. Semi skimmed milk only - mid brown - not too milky. No sugar.

Coffee instant is fine, milk should be full fat or semi skimmed at a push.

Oh dear. An over-confident, ageist young 'un. How tedious.

Oh, I'm not young. Or seething. Or resentful. Can't really see what the over-confident bit relates to.

I'm honestly amazed at how hard some of you have taken this observation. It is a function of ageing that we become more sure of our preferences. I'm pointing out how this interacts with hot drinks and the gradual picky/solipsism that can - can - creep in with this.

The only person I know who is overly fussy about their hot beverages is 18.

I can't understand what is ageing about being fussy.

Coming back to the thread and replying to the response to my post.

I'm not going to 'learn your preferences'

I want you to enjoy your cup

See for me, the two are mutually exclusive

but the fact that you are lecturing me on your entitlement when I'm just making you a hot drink for the time you (and others) are in this meeting is kind of what I'm talking about

No one's lecturing

However, I would like to point out at the time I commented I wasn't aware you were referring to making the hot drinks for a meeting of random people.
The specifics weren't mentioned in the OP and the next post I read referred to 'home brew'

Confusing.

I'll have mine white with a tiny bit of skimmed milk, no sugar and strong, thanks.

It's not about age, it's about life being too short to drink weak tea.

No we should all force down drinks we can't abide because it would be rude or old not to.

I prefer strongish tea to weak, I don't care what colour it is, what kind of tea is used (within reason) but my only absolutely No-No is too much milk - bleurgh - & it has to be served HOT.

Tis not old, tis wise

I thought of this thread and how glad I am I don't work in an office any more.

I've just made a skinny decaf mocha, I much prefer being a coffee twat in the privacy of my own home.

I still think you are in the wrong job.
One of my chlldren is currently a barista and delights in giving people exactly what they want. Even the very small children who come in and know exactly what they want, down to the colour of the straw in their babyccino.
I laso never thought you were actually young enough to be a junior, and that's possibly part of the problem. Lack of enthusiasm and willingness to learn from the beginnn in a job, because you feel it's tedious and beneath you.

Well op, let's hope that one day we're all talking about your analytical skills rather than your truculence and neanderthal views.

I'm off now, good luck in finding a role that befits your talents.

Actually, my views are neither Neanderthal nor truculent (why truculent? because I didn't cave on AIBU? ), it's an observation.

And some of you have taken it hard. All the attempts to patronise insights into my career, job prospects, imagined views of my colleagues are a reformulated anger directed at me because I'm expressing a view you don't like.

There are ageing attitudes and youthful attitudes; relaxed approaches and particular ones.

And as for ageism, as soon as I said I was junior, many of the posts seem to respond to me as if I was some petulant 21 year old slinking around the office imagining it was all beneath me.

Junior, yes; inexperienced at relationships with colleagues and client, no. This is an (inward!) observation. Hot drink fussiness added years to your attitude.

Ahem