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?

You can always say you have dietary issues, it's true and I think nobody can question that because it's a protected characteristic under the disability discrimination act.

I never thought you needed a diagnosis to seek extra adjustments and freedom from discrimination at work. I think the other way round can be an issue- if you don't declare something diagnosed and then it causes you issues with your job that can be frowned upon.

Or maybe they just hide it well. I avoid them but don't make a fuss and it's likely I would go unnoticed not getting involved. In this scenario I'd chat and make sure I had a drink in my hand but say I'll grab some food in a minute and then move on elsewhere and say I'd already had some food.

Then I'd sneak out and eat my own lunch!

No-one can force you to be there. Go and show your face and then go and hang around the loo/your desk etc. At my old work, we only had one receptionist and reception always had to be staffed so she could go to lunch or attend events such as this (usually she’d come to half of the event) Is there a receptionist you could kindly offer to swap with?

Wouldn't the ubiquitous cold refrigerator precooked sausage items be cocktail sausages?

I always understood that chipolatas and cocktail sausages were two different things. The former are the same length as normal sausages but thinner; the latter are both narrower and shorter.

I take it you're OK with the thought that someone's grubby hands might have been on your food, then? I guess sharing germs is a fundamental gift too.

OK, I'm outing myself as a snob here...but even I (a greedy person) lost my appetite when I saw a work buffet consisting of the cheapest possible catering tubs of potato salad, clammy quiches, cold and stodgy sausage rolls, a slab of rubbery processed cheese and stale crisps. i didn't even consider the hygiene aspect, but some good points have been made here.

It was all just the cheapest and nastiest stuff available. And there was tons of it! If only they'd spent the same amount on smaller quantities of nicer things. Or just done different breads and a good cheeseboard.

It’s an inevitable reality of life. Right down to the factory level.

And if you eat in restaurants or get a takeaway ever, you’re dealing with exactly the same level of unwashed toilet hands and nose picking. You’re naive if you think you have any control of that by going to ‘nice’ restaurants for example.

I'm not naive, of course these possibilities are unavoidable. But some people are more prone to getting sick than others, and therefore have to be more careful, and that's not pearl-clutching.

There's been an awful lot of othering on this thread of people whose relationship with food is by necessity less than straightforward. Some posters seem a bit lacking in awareness of life situations that are different from their own.

We don't, indeed the only time people bring in food is usually pre-Christmas and for Diwali.

I think you could opt out because of dietary issues. If someone is forcing you to attend, then you could consider it to be bullying or harassment if it is persistent. Though I hope you would never get to that stage and colleagues would be respectful.

Tbf I don't eat at either . There are three places I'd grab a coffee with friends and one place I'd eat and that is only because I know the owner /chef.
Having worked pubs I've seen some"interesting " approaches to hygiene
Back in the days I drank alcohol I would never have ice because ice machines were rarely cleaned , never coffee out of a machine on a bar top (unless the one I worked at as I cleaned it ) and no post mix ( cola) due to the amount of sugar mould I've seen in the stack where the boxes of mix go and mould in the funnel the liquid goes through , or have fruit in my drink having seen the chopping boards or the bar staff clean her nails with the fruit knife (whilst she was on the bar , whilst the pub was open to trade) Honestly eye opening .

My work always puts out leftover food from meetings. Why wouldn't you? And yes, I eat it. (Obviously there comes a point when it no longer looks appealing.)

We used to have buffets occasionally … now it’s every other week and it’s just too much. The hassle of having to organise something to bring, as well as the disgustingness of the actual buffet itself. Attendance is not mandated at my work, but you’d have to have a reasonably good excuse to miss it, and there is no way of avoiding all the smells etc but still staying in the building.

I flaming love a work buffet. Aslong as its shop bought. Once ate a muffin that had a long hair tickling the back of my throat.

We called our buffets bean feasts and they were very often. Any excuse to bring sausage rolls, dips, pizza parcels etc!!

You could guarantee the buffet was officially open by 830am. All you could here were 'are we starting'

God I miss those days

I generally blame my diabetes for not eating it and take in some tuna and a bit of salad of my own

Who knew there were so many people with eating disorders?

yeah I can't stand this either, it's all such a fuss and so much wasted food. I don't know lots of people in my dept (80 people) too well so have no idea how hygienic their kitchens are! I'd much rather a professional buffet was provided and then I could eat it knowing I'm less likely to be ill. Party pooper maybe but rather that than diarrhoea 😂

This post has got to be a joke in the season of
Scrooge haha.

Yes!! I hated it. Buffets for the opening of an envelope. Meetings over lunch where people would bring the smelliest food. Awful, I empathise and have no answer!

OK, late to this but has any one mentioned 'the fuddle'. Something I encountered when first working for a LA in yorkshire in 2006. I am still here, there have been several rounds of redundencies and early leavers. About 10 years ago we had 3 fuddles in a week for a while.

I get we are all really busy, very poor with below inflation (if any) pay rises for decades but I find it really sad that to celebrate anything we have to have a bloody fuddle . Everyone is so stressed with work but has to make something to bring and then we all uncomfortably hover around desks in whichever office with a plate of random food and not enough crockery.

Sorry but this is something I feel very strongly about..😁For several years now I have suggested we actually take our (unpaid) lunch break and go to a local restaurant! It is like Stockholm syndrome for people who want several types of humous (both home made and shop bought) quiche, french bread , sausage/cheese and onion rolls not even heated up in an oven. The suggestion we are actually worth going out for a meal (not on expenses- paid for ourselves) rather than this malarkey is a work in progress....

I would hate this.
I am a bit fussy about food and would also resent having to give up my lunch hour.

It can't be compulsory if it's over lunch. It's not a business meeting? Can you not just pop out for your own lunch break when it's happening?
There's clearly plenty of people that enjoy it. So I don't think it would be fair to try and shut it down.
Just politely casually explain you've got an errands or a lunch appointment and just don't participate.

What do you do in your lunch break that is so precious?

Take a walk, read a book
When I worked full time I loved the lunch break to recharge my batteries. I am an introvert so do this by being alone. And yes that time is pretty precious.
I would not mind going along to be social for 15 minutes but would then like/need some time to myself.
I understand everybody is not like me but that is how I feel.
And I am not saying it shouldn't exist because I am sure plenty of people enjoy it but I don't think it should be compulsory for an hour.

Ugh, I dislike this too, knowing the hygiene standards of many people and a lot of them not washing their hands after using the bathroom, I don't understand the appeal. Worked for a company where each week some people had to provide snacks/lunch and it was prepared in the kitchen. Sitting next to the kitchen I have seen disgusting things tbh...literal sweat dripping all over the food, people sticking fingers in their mouth to 'clean' them and continuing to prep the food...No op, I completely understand you