To absolutely hate buffets at work!

[mandyhassandy]

I work in a big organisation where there's a team (or sometime whole department of 50 people) buffet luncheon held for some reason or other every few weeks.. Birthdays, people leaving, retirements, wedding, engagements.. Any excuse to have one really!
The buffets involve everyone having to bring in something to contribute, I usually play it safe with cakes or biscuits but some people really go to town. Some with cook.
I really struggle with the smells of a lot of the stuff. I'm very bland in my eating, and there's a lot I can't/won't eat. So I tend to sit in the sidelines, ideally near the door or an open window just to spare myself some of the dreadful smells/sights Strong pungent smells like garlicy things make me feel ill. Any seeing people handling food without proper serving utensils and sometime grubby hands only adds to my nausea.
These buffets are always pre-arranged and staff are expected to be there. No excuses. We have to keep our diaries free to attend. I feel I can't get out of them and I struggle every time. Being in a confined space (meeting room) for an hour feeling nauseous and queezy, smelling things I wouldn't chose to smell/see is really making me dread work.
Anyone else have this at their workplaces?

Not really, was only a couple of years ago we were all locked in at home with masks to go to the supermarket and now it seems we are back to eating food lovingly made by Barry from accounts who possibly stuck his hand down his pants to scratch his back crack mid prep.

Exactly! I mean at one point people were being ultra cautious about allowing kids blowing out candles on birthday cakes

Plenty of other ways to bring workers together that don’t involve food. Team building afternoons etc.

There’s loads of ways to get out of it, feign illness, say you have food phobias, say you can’t eat anything beige, say you are recovering from a eating disorder, say you are gluten, wheat, pickle, lactose intolerant. Say you are purely carnivore or carb free or just go and chat but don’t eat. You can still take something and put it on the table. But in my opinion you shouldn’t be forced to eat stuff that you don’t want to eat.

The most anyone does is donuts cookies or samosas.
never homemade lol

Oh there we go - samosas! Noooooooo

Isn’t the work buffet another American cultural import? It used to be if you wanted to celebrate something at work, getting engaged, your birthday you bought the food/cakes for everyone and it was optional. You didn’t expect anyone else to spend a second of time bothering about you. Same with anything work related, if bosses wanted you around having lunch with them they did the food.

This is very sad to read. I can see that you and many others have very disabling issues with food, and this must be very hard to live with. But do you think then that other people, who do not have these issues, should not be allowed to share food at work in a way that is very normal and ordinary for most people?

I remember my mum taking things in years ago when I was a kid. If I was lucky, I'd get to join in 🥳

My dad used to take cakes into work when it was his birthday. He retired in 1974.

And so what if it is an American import.

Oh, just unlocked a pre covid memory of the middle managers thinking they were being wonderful to us plebs in the office by kindly offering us their buffet leftovers that had been left sitting out for hours.

We obviously didn't touch it but the pricks (men obvs) thought we would deal with the tidying up etc at 5pm but we refused 🤣

If it is done in another room and there is absolutely ZERO judgement or pressure on anyone who doesn't want to join in sure. But thst very rarely happens what happens is someone goes oooh are you sure you're not having any and makes a THING.

If you don't like them, don't go.

Yeah, some still do it in London, worked with someone who brought in salmon and cream cheese bagels from brick lane for everyone when she was celebrating and others brought in cheese cakes when they were celebrating something just seems cooler and more traditional. The work buffet just seems sad but good luck to those who are into it.

Other than allergies, I have never come across anyone irl that worries about eating food from a buffet. Most of my work mates love a buffet lunch

When we have Christmas fuddles all the buffet food is bought, apart from my home baking which everyone always requests.

(we use the term fuddle in Yorkshire BTW)

I'm with you I'm the face that shipped a thousand corporate lunches. Three instances spring to mind, both when I was a union rep during the merger of two massive corporatations, I worked for one and was part of the management going forward with the new company:
Head office city of London...threadneedle street. Very very good corporate address. We split into working groups and move into the executive dining room about 11am...snooty waiter approached and said we couldn't be in there because it was the executive dining room...manager leading their side says nicely yes we can, it's not being used just yet...waiter gets loud and insists we leave...only time I've ever heard anyone say this but one of the other managers says "do you know who I am" I couldn't stop myself and took the waiter aside and told him that the guy was the CEO of Britain's oldest company and his and my boss!
Next week meeting in another head office...we get peanut butter and banana sandwiches...manager goes ape and rings the catering manager with the phrase "we are not at a 7 year old birthday party"
Two weeks or so meeting of the two union bodies involved in a fairly good London hotel, scheduled for 5 days....day one and two same buffet arrived...day 3 same stuff turned up and there is a full scale revolt and someone goes to McDonald's for 40 big macs!
Yeh office buffets love them!!!

I worked somewhere where it was called a Jacobs join. They were all great bakers and we had some fabulous spreads. I loved it but can totally understand why it could be hellish. I'd definitely make up an issue or get a job elsewhere. I've worked in two places since where it never happens

How sneaky and horrible.

In the US we call these potlucks. As in it's the luck of the draw what your coworker brings in in their pot.

There has to be another of your coworkers or two that has an aversion to heavy odors etc. I would suggest you get together and eat bring each bring items that the other 2-3 will like.

OP, this is actually a you problem. It’s a pity you can’t get the good out of it for yourself. Because you are missing out. Sharing food is a fundamental gift. But people go around ruining it clutching pearls about unwashed hands and unseen kitchens etc. It’s a real pity.

Well it’s not a gift to many of us to share food with people we just happen to work with. Sharing food with actual friends and family is another story completely.

I am not missing out on anything good, as it wouldn’t be an enjoyable experience for me
to partake in this kind of buffet.

Let’s just appreciate we are all different. And also some people just have more sensitive stomachs whether it’s feeling queasy or actually getting food poisoning.

In Britain having this kind of thing at work is very strange in my opinion, most people don’t even have hot food at lunch at work and now they are expected to eat various work colleagues signature dishes as a sharing experience. It’s forced jollity and awful.

I suppose if it’s in working time they can say you need to go but they can’t make you eat it. Just take your own food next time.

OMG 🤢