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« The Case for Product over Process | Main | Can Instant Messaging Help You Find a Job? »

February 16, 2006

Five Work Microwave Etiquette Commandments

The microwave has revolutionized how workers eat on the job, allowing them to enjoy goodies like warmed-up leftovers, frozen dinners and microwave popcorn while they work. Most workplaces, including Monster, provide several microwaves for employee use.

Alas, not everyone is on the same page when it comes to workplace microwave manners. To preclude confusion, here are my top five things to remember as you're watching your lunch take a spin:

1. Thou Shalt Not Nuke Stinky Food: Fish is the most common offender, but the smell of his coworkers cooking anything with cheese makes my husband's stomach turn. Be considerate of your neighbors.

2. Thou Shalt Not Leave a Mess: It's just common sense: If your cup runneth over, clean it up.

3. Thou Shalt Not Jump the Line: Those people waiting by the microwave with leftovers in hand are hungry, too. Wait your turn, or find another microwave to use. An exception is when someone leaves their food in the oven. If they don't come back to claim their Tupperware within a minute or two after the bell sounds, feel free to take it out and proceed with your own nuking.

4. Thou Shalt Not Leave It Broken: If your Lean Cuisine is still frozen after five minutes, don't just go out to lunch. Let someone know the microwave's busted so they can fix it.

5. Thou Shalt Reset the Controls: It's great that your popcorn took less time to pop than you thought. Hit reset on your way out so the next person doesn't have to.

And once you get back to your desk, check out these tips on desktop dining etiquette.

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Posted by Christine on February 16, 2006 at 11:10 AM in The Daily Grind | Permalink | Comments (28) | TrackBack (0)

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Oh... I really dislike people who make popcorn. Especially when they make it at 10:30AM. This is especially bad because I'm starting to get hungry for lunch, but don't want to succumb to the hunger quite yet. The other horrible time is 3:00PM. Because anything that can distract me from work, will.

Posted by: Adam Phillabaum | Feb 18, 2006 3:18:09 PM

One of the easiest ways to clean the microwave is to put a bowl of water in there and heat it on high so that it boils for a few minutes. The resultant steam and moisture help loosen up the crud, making it easy to wipe that stuff out. Then you can go in with your cleaner of choice and get the surfaces done. I learned this at a college admin office where students were using the micros - they were pigs!!

Posted by: Joann Halpern | Mar 14, 2006 7:28:23 AM

As a maintenance contractor in commercial establishments, it’s amazing to me how many companies just don't seem to care about the cleanliness of their micro waves.

The lunchroom looks spotless, but when you go to cook some thing in the microwave, it looks like some one exploded the pet poodle in them.

I have since learned to take my lunches at the local fast food establishments, or bring some thing to eat while I'm working.

Posted by: Russ | Mar 14, 2006 9:03:51 AM

I really hate it when people bring those meals to work that basically have to be cooked (ex: Lean Cuisine meals). Proper etiquette is to "warm" you food in the microwave and not "cook" your food in the microwave. I generally cook my meals at the house and then reheat them at work so I won't be at the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes.

Posted by: Felicia Corbett | Mar 14, 2006 9:11:11 AM

Sounds like all of the people above are stuck up and don't know how to enjoy life. Only sad people complain. Give me a break and get a life.

Posted by: Eleanor Elliott | Mar 14, 2006 10:25:40 AM

Anyone who has worked more than one day in an office has undoubtedly encountered the person who burns popcorn.

Man, the stench lingers for a while.

Posted by: Ryan Marshall | Mar 14, 2006 12:08:55 PM

If you allow your frozen dinners to thaw before cooking (I know they all say not to, but it doesn't hurt them) then it only takes a couple minutes to heat them up to eat. Therefore, you don't take up as much time in the line.

Posted by: Kristi | Mar 14, 2006 12:31:10 PM

It is not the "Lean Cuisine" times that kill me. It is the people who actually bring in a large platter of raw food and then cook it in the microwave. Have you ever had to wait 30 minutes for a microwave while somebody was cooking up a fresh bown of soup or a caserole?

Posted by: Denney Wilson | Mar 14, 2006 1:28:58 PM

Nuking popcorn doesn't bother me, but the idiots who put the popcorn in the microwave, set the timer, and walk off, do. Nine times out of ten the time is wrong, and the odor of burned popcorn is so pervasive and objectionable that it is almost imposssible to get rid of for hours. If you do popcorn, stand there for the small amount of time it takes, LISTEN for when the popping slows down a lot, and STOP the timer, regardless of what it says on the bag! And if you really want to be the nicest person in the office, don't nuke popcorn unless you have enough to offer to everyone within smelling distance!

Posted by: Ann Simanton | Mar 14, 2006 1:36:53 PM

#5 is unnecessary. #1 should be the following (and this applies to ALL office equipment) Before you use equipment, make sure the controls are set specifically for what you want it to do for you. Anyone who just turns on a machine without checking the controls deserves whatever happens. Whoever used it prior is ancient history - take 100% responsibility for your own acts and never be a whiner.

Posted by: Yodar | Mar 14, 2006 3:26:40 PM

Definitely no Fish/seafood is allowed in our microwave oven. An popcorn should defitiely be supervised. And yes, do thaw out your frozen food, because we all need to use the microwave and only have a few minutes for lunch. Thanks!

Posted by: Nancy | Mar 14, 2006 4:53:50 PM

I think the people I work with are very well-mannered about using the microwave. Our microwave is a little dirty & stained inside, but that's to be expected after years of use. I rarely see anybody wipe it out after they cook something, unless they make a mess. We don't have anybody that has the time to do cleanup on this kind of stuff, so thank goodness we are all good citizens about doing our part. And a case of burnt popcorn is a rare occurrence, thankfully!

Posted by: Lois | Mar 14, 2006 6:28:52 PM

The best way to prevent messes in the micro is to cover up your food with a lid or a paper towel.

Posted by: Liz | Mar 14, 2006 6:55:17 PM

Common courtesy...put things the way your found them. No one deserve anything bad. But everyone deserves something good.

Posted by: melissa | Mar 14, 2006 7:07:27 PM

#5 is important, but not because of the microwave settings. It's important when the microwave is the only clock in the breakroom & that's where you eat your lunch...if the timer on the microwave isn't reset, you have no idea what time it is. How do you know when you have to go back to your desk?

Posted by: Nancy | Mar 15, 2006 9:27:39 PM

i dislike ppl who start heating their lunch in 11:30am. It makes all the office nosiy and smelly and difficult to concentrate.We can put earplugs to avoid nosiy, but how can we do to let our noses retire?? Every lunch break, our 40 ppl's office will just like a restaurant! and Chinese style restaurant!

Posted by: Diana | Mar 16, 2006 3:34:29 AM

Nothing is worse than a preservative-laced batch of Lean Cuisine. No matter what the meal, it ALWAYS smells the same. Bad!!!!! What does that tell you? Maybe the fat slobs who eat this crap should try just eating a salad or some fruit.

Posted by: Joe | Mar 16, 2006 9:43:58 AM

I dont see what the big deal is. It is not that deep. There are more important things to worry about than what ppl are cooking in the microwave.

Posted by: Jamie | Mar 16, 2006 10:57:11 AM

While I agree with all the microwave comments, could we please address those folks who put their dirty dishes in the office kitchen sink and leave it there for days. I think the rule clean as you go should apply. Thoughts?

Posted by: LL | Mar 17, 2006 9:14:10 AM

In my last workplace the CEO would eat one of two things everyday - either chicken noodle soup or tomato soup. Those aren't all that bad, but he would ALWAYS add a can of tuna AND a can of sardines to the soup and heat it up. Since he was so "busy" he would always leave it in the microwave, stinking up not only the whole breakroom, but the area outside of it (I pitied the people who had to sit next to the breakroom). One day he left the soup concoction in the microwave so long the sardines exploded. Talk about a nasty smell! And, since he would never cover his bowl, it exploded all over the microwave. He didn't clean it up, but left it for others to do (fortunately, I wasn't one of them). He broke all of the rules above and then some. Quite glad I'm gone from there. In many ways.

Posted by: AR | Mar 17, 2006 9:44:55 AM

Youve got to be kidding me with some of these comments. "Oh blah blah I dont like it when people make popcorn at 10:30 or 3:00, blah blah Im a big loser with nothing better to complain about"

Grow up. Yeah, burnt popcorn is an exception, but to get pissy just because a co-worker is hungry, so nuked up a bag of popcorn is just inane.

Posted by: Officedude | Mar 22, 2006 2:42:21 PM

Hey Officedude, learn how to spell and then find a real job!!

Posted by: TiiliD | Mar 29, 2006 5:09:19 PM

Seems like everyone here is on the steamed vegatable kick.... Brocolli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts in the microwave...

(in about two hours, you can only dream about what the bathroom smells like!.....ugh....

~Air wick please....

Posted by: stinkfest | May 18, 2006 1:23:04 PM

I don't understand!!! Can someone please explain this to me again? Popcorn doesn't take 10 minutes to pop? Thanks for you help.

Posted by: Jack N. Mehaff | Jul 7, 2006 12:57:23 PM

For all you long suffering victims of workplace kitchen atrocities, I've just set up a new blog, http://kitchen-chaos.blogspot.com. You can email photos of the grossest of workplace kitchens to me and I'll name and shame (or at least shame) the perpetrators.

Posted by: Fras | Jul 14, 2006 7:33:34 AM

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