To think people should have breakfast BEFORE work?

[candybeek]

If you work a normal daily shift like 9-5 office hours, then I feel it's really odd people come in to work and immediately start pouring milk on their cornflakes or dashing to the canteen for a greasy fry up.
I'm in the minority at my work place that have breakfast at home before work.
I understand it if you work shifts etc but 9-5??

I find it really odd, what's next - people using the kitchen to cook their tea before they leave for work?

It's even worse as they bring their smelly breakfasts back to their desk so I have to inhale it all.

Am I on my own in this thought?

Meh, I don't think it matters so long as you get what you need to done. I tend to saunter in around 9.30am with a croissant and coffee then leave at 5 with the rest of my team. The culture of presenteeism is mental in the uk and I won't have the people I manage subjected to it.

Smelly food - no.

Is buggering off to the canteen any worse than MNing during work hours? Surely, it's tit for tat.

No but I'm not at work.. so stick that up your tit or tat.

I do find it amusing that a lot of you have gotten even more annoyed/outraged at me than I am being annoyed/outraged at the topic itself!

Shows we all have our things to get annoyed about doesn't it :)

Good point candy.

Most Fridays I go for breakfast in the canteen with a group of others from the office. We take about an hour over it, have a good old bitch and moan and then get back to work. It makes a nice end to the week. Would I do it every day? No. But once a week, why not? I got up at 5 this morning to travel to a regional office. I was in until 6 (but only paid til 5) two nights this week. They get their money's worth from me - I won't feel guilty about egg on toast once a week.

YABU, as long as they get their work done why does it matter to you? Agree smelly food is annoying but that's a prob with open plan offices

I really hate clock watching, smug jobsworths

They relied on staff to never do the sums and realise they pay for the 10 min muesli slurping or 1h pub lunch with 2 hours overtime or giving up their Sundays.

I could do the sums perfectly well. I was in a fairly senior position and my contract said I must work the hours necessary to perform my role. Of course that meant I worked a lot of hours over and above the standard 9-5. It also meant if I went for an hour long coffee break, or an all afternoon meeting in the pub, or breakfast in the canteen then that was fine. I also allowed my direct reports the same flexibility and autonomy over their time. Seemed to work fine.

Roarfeckingroar im not a jobsworth but I am a clock watcher.. til 5pm that is.

Sorry you want to hate me for not liking smelly plates near me. I don't like you either because you are judgemental and ridiculous. So there.

Goofy I'd love to work somewhere so flexible and for people who trust their employees to do so. Sadly, it's not the case at my place- far from it!

I don't think it was rude or snarky to you. Never mind, eh? Perhaps you've taken this too seriously and do indeed need to look for a job where you are happier. I've never really noticed what most of my other colleagues do but I know that the vast majority are not piss takers. I also know that if we didn't eat at our desks sometimes, we'd not be as productive.

I eat my breakfast at work. I have yoghurt, raspberries and oats. My head of department asked, "what the fuck is that?" the other week. She then pretended to vomit. I found that quite offensive. But then nearly everyone in our team eats at their desk because they do a hefty commute and barely have time to break for lunch.

I hate it. I agree it looks sloppy. You should be disciplined enough to rise early, do yoga then eat organic muesli prior to embarking upon your journey to work.

Personally, I would also ban tea and coffee making in the workplace. Fucking waste of time taking the orders, boiling the kettle and tidying up.

And definitely no hot/smelly food in the office. Have a sandwich at lunch, preferably not at your desk. Save your hot meal for at home. I wouldn't touch your average office microwave with a barge-pole mind you. Filthy.

Mineral water may be consumed at desks.

I don't mind people eating at their desks, I often have to work through lunch so it's the only way I get to eat.

I was really surprised when a new manager joined and on her first day at 830 (her start time) plugged in hair straighteners at her desk and straightened her hair for 10mins!

She does it every day, then has breakfast and then starts work 30 mins late, which annoys me!

I don't agree with the bit about "as long as you get your job done" it's ok.

Most jobs are not just distinct tasks that can be done anywhere and any time. They involve at least a bit of "being at a desk between certain hours" - so you can be available when your colleagues/clients need you, not so you can be in the canteen.

I'm not perfect myself - I do munch down (cold) snacks and often apply make-up at my desk!

I know what you mean but in 2016 (in my office at least) we are encouraged to have a good work/life balance and to ensure we get what we need to get done, regardless of how many hours you're actually at your desk. You're judged on the quality of your work and it wouldn't be an issue to do this as long as your work was good/on time.

I suppose it depends on the job though as if you're doing something time sensitive (like covering the phone from 9am) then this wouldn't be on.

Also depends on the level of your role - the higher up you go the more you can do things like this in my experience. My tasks are not desk-bound at all.

I worked in a 9 to 5 job, and many people had breakfast at work. Most people, including managers and 'heads' were relaxed about it. I think it's a nice thing to be able to do. I don't think it's wrong.

Remembering the gorgeous canteen that I had in one of my first ever jobs... They treated the staff so well. Breakfast, lunch & tea breaks. Special food for working late. Occasion food for Christmas etc... Staff restaurant for posh lunches. Why did I ever leave that place?

YABU. I often eat breakfast (porridge with fruit) at my desk as I swim before work and don't like to swim on a full stomach. I chuck the pot in the microwave for 2 mins when I get to work then eat it while I read my emails. It doesn't distract from my work any more than a cup of tea would.

We have a pretty strict no eating at desk policy that I approve of. I think it looks sloppy to eat at your desk. Smell, crumbs and chewing noises is disruptive I think. But we have a lovely kitchen, people eat in there at all times whenever they are hungry. Or go to pret for breakfast or have wine in the pub at lunch. It is complete flexibility within reason, as long as you dont do it at your desk. Works for us

but even in more chilled previous jobs this would set off the great Tea Club War over people using All the Milk in porridge etc.

Those who want milk take their own in. Some groups of people have a communal bottle, but I take my own as I use a lot. We just mark the bottles up and actually there's never any problem. We also don't waste time with kettles, we have boiling water dispensers. It's also rare to have people making drinks for the whole office, tends to be in groups of 3-4 at most and it only take a couple of minutes.

I've read this thread again and on a serious note, I think it's a shame that so many employers treat their employees like children. We work flexibly and we are trusted. We generally don't take the piss. Well, I don't. It fosters a positive attitude and means that we work harder because we are happier. Our employee satisfaction survey results rank highly compared to other organisations.

I'm the same, Milk. On office days, I leave the house at 6.30am, couldn't possibly stomach breakfast at that time. I get to work at 7.15, go and get breakfast at about 8.30.

If they're not losing productivity over itie, everything gets done, and they make up the time, etc.I have no problem with it. If they eat while they work, I don't have a problem with it. While I don't have a lot of sympathy for the ones who eat at work due to time management problems, I do for the people who just can't eat for a few hours after waking.

In short, if they're not losing more than a few minutes and everything is getting done, I see no problem with it. (Unless it's something particularly strong smelling or, god forbid, fish.)