Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

173 replies

Sarah510 · 06/08/2020 13:34

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 ;)

OP posts:
Original poster
Sarah510 · 06/08/2020 22:34

yes no access to drinking water in our place even for the couple of weeks before covid they closed all the water fountains. We're gonna be a dehydrated bunch :)

OP posts:
loopylindazdaughter · 06/08/2020 22:36

Packed lunch and travel kettle

Charleyhorses · 06/08/2020 23:25

Oh we have got water. You know the massive upside down water bottle type thing. Hand sanitise before and only allowed cups rather than filling up our own water bottles.

PastMyBestBeforeDate · 07/08/2020 00:20

Have you not got taps marked as safe to drink @Sarah510?

Shinyletsbebadguys · 07/08/2020 00:25

I'm honestly not having a go OP but I am laughing a bit at the other histrionics on this thread. I haven't for years had a kitchen or a tea point (I did go in and out of care homes where there was a kitchen but my job made it inappropriate to access them) I have either been peripatetic or between sites which didn't have canteens etc. To be honest in my last role (I've had no choice but to come out of the workplace due to covid affected childcare) we were all so used to travelling between sites during the day once a month we would be in the office for a team meeting. The manager gave up and got rid of the kettle when we genuinely worked out it had been used once in 4 months Grin we used to bring our own flasks and snacks for the meeting or go to the Costa down the road (feasible for once a month).

I get that it was a shock for you but some of the other posters have made me laugh. On my priority list of things I don't think this one even makes the top 500.

VacMan · 07/08/2020 00:38

Our kitchens in work are open, all hot water boilers and cold fountains are in use.

We had a bank of 10 microwaves which have been reduced to 6 and spaced out a bit.
I use my flash wipes to open the door and push the buttons.

Admittedly there are reduced numbers of staff in the building but still 50+ people popping in to use the kitchen facilities at one time or another during the day.

Fieldofgreycorn · 07/08/2020 00:56

Apparently, it's not the cleaners' responsibility

Not that again we must work at the same place lol.

I think it’s very uncivil not to have fridge and microwave at work. Not everyone likes sandwiches, too much bread. Also if you have some nice bread whatever you put on it makes it soggy if it hangs around like that for a few hours.

Much better to take something out of a fridge and spread it fresh on. Also how do you reheat home made soup? How many flasks are you supposed to bring in then? Some people like to try and eat healthily.

TinkersTailor · 07/08/2020 01:18

I understand the annoyance at not being able to make tea or coffee and the lack of drinking water (is that even legal?), but fridges, microwaves and canteens..
There's plenty of lunch options that can survive without a fridge, or don't need warming up.

Do you send your kids to school with a packed lunch? How do you think they survive until lunchtime; there's no fridges in the schools.

If you can afford it (and you can get to one) support the local small businesses and buy a lunch/drink. Think of how much you'll be helping towards them surviving at this time.

BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze · 07/08/2020 01:27

First world problems. 🤣

You can survive without a hot drink if you have to. Lunch will be ok not in a fridge. And the person saying that carrying their lunch and a thermos flask will add a fair bit of weight to what they usually carry..🤣🤣🤣

People like to moan, that’s for sure.

BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze · 07/08/2020 01:29

Just to add. Kids have to carry a rucsac to school with books and equipment, lunch, PE kits etc so I’m sure adults will cope with a laptop, lunch and a flask. 🤣

GrolliffetheDragon · 07/08/2020 10:21

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.

Great idea if you can afford it. Covid has meant my family losing half its income so I won't be buying takeaway drinks.

GrolliffetheDragon · 07/08/2020 10:30

You can survive without a hot drink if you have to. Lunch will be ok not in a fridge. And the person saying that carrying their lunch and a thermos flask will add a fair bit of weight to what they usually carry..

If that was me I was pointing out that I now have to carry a laptop - something that I never had to before - and adding a thermos and a lunch box with room for an icepack on top of that adds weight and bulk.

I've been walking to work for years with my lunch in my backpack, plus all the other crap I have to carry round. Laptop plus thermos is going to more than double the weight I'm carrying, and I'll probably need a new backpack to fit the thermos in, which is more money I really don't have atm.

SerenDippitty · 07/08/2020 11:03

@loopylindazdaughter

Packed lunch and travel kettle
yes but get the travel kettle PAT tested. My workplace could be arsey about things like that. We weren't actually allowed kettles, just water boilers in the kitchen. While it was fine for coffee, the temperature was never quite hot enough to make a decent cup of tea.
IntermittentParps · 07/08/2020 11:30

Don't people take their coffee and food with them anyway?

Is it really that hard to understand or imagine that perhaps not everyone else might, just because you do?

ZaraW · 07/08/2020 11:34

It's reasonable. I work next to someone who microwaves fish for their lunch it stinks. I have to leave my office to get away from the smell. I wish they would close our coffee area.

Oysterbabe · 07/08/2020 11:39

With no fridge to put it in, in the middle of summer?

Office reopening but... no canteen, no kitchen...!!!!
ragged · 07/08/2020 11:58

I'm glad people started & posted on this thread so much because I will be affected soon and now I can be better prepared. I planned to cycle (RT 35 miles) to avoid public transport Bringing kgs of water (esp. hot water) from home isn't very practical. Will try to mull over options when I actually get in building and see what's allowed.

Pukkatea · 07/08/2020 12:03

I have similar first world problems. I started a job the day before lockdown in an office with the most amazing coffee machine and tasty pods. Now I'm finally going back one day a week and no posh coffee machine for me Angry I'm very sad about it, at least I'll be environmentally friendly.

BarbaraofSeville · 07/08/2020 12:28

yes no access to drinking water in our place even for the couple of weeks before covid they closed all the water fountains

you still legally need access to fresh drinking water, even if it's just a tap, so they have to provide that, so no-one needs to be carrying bottles of cold water around.

IloveJudgeJudy · 07/08/2020 12:30

All places of work must provide drinking water.

@GrolliffetheDragon could you perhaps use a suitcase with wheels to bring your stuff if you cannot afford to buy a workbag on wheels?

I now have to bring a lunchbox with freezer blocks as there's no access to a fridge now.

Our canteen has changed beyond all recognition now. Only one person per table and tables spaced 2m apart. We do have hot and cold water but I wouldn't have a problem with having to bring a flask of hot water; I already bring everything else now.

melj1213 · 07/08/2020 12:40

Tbh some of the companies on this thread seem to be going OTT with restrictions. I get that they would prefer people to use the facilities as little as possible but I dont see why they have to shut everything down.

I work in a supermarket and we have worked all the way through the pandemic and our break room - with snack vending machines, 2 fridges, 3 microwaves, 2 toasters, hot water boiler, cold water dispenser, sink and dishwasher - has been open and available the entire time.

All of the tables and chairs were rearranged to be socially distanced from each other and the kitchen area; our comfy sofas were moved out to make room for that and every table has disposable paper rolls and disinfectant spray for colleagues to wipe down the tables after use but that was the only real change. We also have a couple of cupboards where some of us usually leave things like personal mugs, condiments, bottles of squash/our own preferred coffee and tea etc and we have been asked to keep those things in our individual lockers instead but considering that lockers are just next door it's not much of a hardship.

GrolliffetheDragon · 07/08/2020 13:19

@GrolliffetheDragon could you perhaps use a suitcase with wheels to bring your stuff if you cannot afford to buy a workbag on wheels?

Don't have one so I'd have to buy one, plus some of my walk is on not so well maintained footpaths (they're pools of mud when it rains, up to 2-3 inches deep, this is why I carry so much - change of shoes for example if it's wet) so the wheels would need to be pretty sturdy.

I also used to leave a change of clothes in work, but we're not allowed to leave personal items like that anymore. I get it, it keeps clutter down (we don't have lockers, we just leave stuff by our desks), making it easier to keep the place clean.

unmarkedbythat · 07/08/2020 13:21

Tbh some of the companies on this thread seem to be going OTT with restrictions. I get that they would prefer people to use the facilities as little as possible but I dont see why they have to shut everything down.

The cynical side of me says that those companies are probably secretly quite glad of an excuse to shut down staff facilities.

melj1213 · 07/08/2020 13:34

The cynical side of me says that those companies are probably secretly quite glad of an excuse to shut down staff facilities.

I could see that if they have excessive facilities, but I cannot see why anywhere would think that shutting off access to fresh drinking water- even if it is just by way of a kitchen tap - is acceptable.

Namechangr9000 · 07/08/2020 13:39

Wow I'd never considered a fridge a luxury. We dont have a kitchen but there is a fridge, sink and microwave in our workspace