Office reopening but... no canteen, no kitchen...!!!!

[Sarah510]

Is this unreasonable....!!!

Cant help thinking it's a conspiracy theory to force us to go back to the Costas and Starbucks...

Lucky I have a couple of flasks!!! After wfh I realise how much money I was totally wasting on my coffees every day ;)

You can get an insulated water bottle to keep it warm/cold/however you like it. But if you need to top it up?

Take two/three bottles in?

dh has a travel mug which keeps really hot all day. If he hasn't had time to drink his coffee during the day he drinks it when he gets home at night.

similar to this but not purple!

Just put your salad/sandwiches in a box in the fridge overnight and pack them next to an ice pack from the freezer to take in. They'll still be very cold by lunchtime (in my pre-covid experience).

We're going to have this in my office. All very well saying take a flask, but I walk to work, and will have to be carrying a laptop to and fro, so a thermos and some sort of thermal bag for lunch with ice packs in are going to add a fair amount of weight and bulk on top of all the usual crap I have to carry round with me.

@Sarah510

Is this unreasonable....!!!

Cant help thinking it's a conspiracy theory to force us to go back to the Costas and Starbucks...

Lucky I have a couple of flasks!!! After wfh I realise how much money I was totally wasting on my coffees every day ;)

You are unreasonable to describe a practical course of action which has been implemented as a 'conspiracy theory'. OP without wishing to sound patronising do you know what a 'theory' is?

I've always taken a packed lunch, and never put it in the fridge (although my office had one).
A packed lunch should last until lunchtime.
Pre-Lockdown, I often went out walking with a packed lunch, so no fridge to put it in.
I agree with an earlier poster, who said don't take fish.
As others have said, you can get smallish coolbox type lunch boxes (in fact I bought one recently that when empty folds up quite small).
Take a water bottle, or flask.

I also don't tend to take sandwiches, usually it's left overs from the day before, so the lack of microwave will be annoying - and no fridge makes curry and rice a bit dodgy.

I've never worked anywhere without a microwave, kettle & fridge. Even my shittiest retail job had those. Currently work with the military so removing the brew facilities would cause a mutiny here.

I have no problem doing without hot drinks & I always bring packed lunch, breakfast, occasionally supper and water from home anyway so putting a cool-block in my picnic bag instead of the fridge suits me fine- better than buying stuff every day. Lack of micro would annoy me as I often have a hot lunch and like that option, especially in winter. I don't have a micro at home and wouldn't want to dick about with a pan in the mornings for soup when my sistema mugs make it so easy. I'd adapt but that would annoy me. Especially as our fridge, kettle, coffee machine, micro & toaster are all staff donations- lots of the donors are still around and would demand them back for safe keeping if we weren't sure we'd see them again otherwise.

@QuestionMarkNow

So buy a travel kettle to use at your desk. All kinds of options.

@uniglowooljumper, no way work will ever agree to that. The kettle won’t be tested like all other electric appliances. Plus there is the risk of having the kettle on the table, next to people going past, next to a computer etc... and of course, everyone else will want to use it!

If work doesn’t provide a kettle, I’m afraid that mean no kettle at all and no access to hot water for a cup of tea.

So you bring hot water in a flask. Chilly bottles are fabulous, keep the water piping hot for hours, I even use them for fell walking in the Lakes in Autumn and the water is hot for a hot drink anytime. How do you think people in many professions who don't have access to a bloody kettle at work cope?

Yes you can bring a hot flask. I have a few of them myself. Which is why I KNOW they don’t usually last all day, even the very good ones.

I’d your point is that the OP can survive wo a kettle and a kitchen, yes she can. Everyone can.

I’d the point is that it’s not going to make a confortable environment for people working there, that’s what a lot of people are saying.... I have yet to see a work environment wo a kettle, even when there is no kitchen.

Don't people take their coffee and food with them anyway? I never put mine in the fridge anyway
Sometimes I take things in if I want something specific but all our meals from breakfast to supper is provided depending on what time of day we are working and if we are out on a day trip a packed lunch and snacks are also provided. We also have access to tea, coffee, juice, squash, hot chocolate and milk shakes.

Yes you can bring a hot flask. I have a few of them myself. Which is why I KNOW they don’t usually last all day, even the very good ones
Do you warm your flask first?
No flask will stay warm if you don't do this.
I nearly burned my mouth a few weeks ago on a field trip with my brew. (seriously) I used a Stanley Master flask. I would highly recommend that brand.

Oh bloody hell, I need to work at office in August.

I will be annoyed if no kettle. officially we aren't allowed to bring a kettle in -- devices have to be PAT tested (but I will ignore that, won't I?)

Ok. sigh. I will hope for best & be braced for worst.

yeah its just going to be different I guess. No more rushing out the door knowing you can have a nice cuppa when you get to work. Heating up soup and making tea and coffee and carrying all these flasks and bottles of water is going to be a PITA. Also we'll all be eating at our desks I suppose. I try and drink water every day, have been up to 2L wfh, and it's been great, but I don't think I could carry a 2L water bottle with me as its quite a lot of walking. Anyway, yes there are always people worse off I know!!! I've been working since 1987 though and never worked somewhere without a kettle. I cant imagine them allowing travel kettles and hotplates at our desks - I'll get one if they're allowed though! Not a hotplate - did someone really suggest that lol.

Food flask

You could see if they'd let you have a little kettle and PAT test it. Or get a cup water heater, keep it in your bag and heat a cup of water under your desk when no one's looking. I've used one in the past and it was quite good.

Or here's a kettle that looks like a flask so you might smuggle that in.

Of course you could take the altruistic view that the people who work in coffee shops would really benefit from you going in and buying a coffee or two. Not so much 'wasting' money as supporting someone else.

Same at my work, there is access to the water machine but disposal cups only (I will have to fill a bottle at home to take out)

My lunch is always in a little cool bag, and I don't drink tea or coffee. I think those already in are taking flasks in.

The plan is for all team meetings in Starbucks or Costa though.

Well, I've got a Chilly bottle and swill it with water (from my kettle at home) just off the boil, then fill it and like another poster, burn my mouth on it hours later after it's been sat in my rucksack for hours and carried over fells in late Autum. Worth every penny.

I have the small Stanley one I use for soups and hot food and it also works brilliantly if first swilled with boiling hot water.

After 3 months of covid our office which has been open for the whole time. Tptb have decided to remove all cutlery, plates and dishes from the kitchens as well as taping up all the cupboard doors.

When this was announced it prompted a lot of people to grab whatever they could to keep in their desk drawers

Seems a bit late to do it now!

@Animum2 I have a knife, fork & spoon camping set from Mountain Warehouse as my work cutlery if that helps? Keep it in your lunch box or a freezer bag in your handbag or your desk if you can lock it!

I never use the fridges at work. They Ming and the food gets nicked.

Decent cool bag ice packs will do the job. Coffee more tricky but my DH swears by chillis coffee mugs.

Look at the government guidance for your industry type.. Its quite detailed.

I really don't see why you can't use a shared fridge if everyone has their own items in seperate containers and cleans hands.

Obviously no buffets, communal brew making, shared cutlery but doesn't make sense that can have water from cooler or tap (welfare regs) but can't from a kettle or hot water unit.. Both are communal and can be cleaned...

I got some dinky little ice blocks, a new lunch box and a flask. I felt like it was the first day of school and I was 5!

And I am loving the no sharing, no buffet and no fridge.

@Hopeislost

Is there access to drinking water? As PP have said, I'd use a flask for hot food and ice blocks for cold. However the only drinking water in our building is in the kitchen so if that is shut off I'd really struggle, especially in the heat!

we have no access to drinking water now. Kitchen and canteen closed indefinitely, water fountains removed.

I think that is going to be fairly standard across the board from now on.