Reply #18: I have a colleague who won't go near the kitchen

[Lucy Goosey]

...because, as in many office kitchens, there have once in a while been lunches left in it to go moldy. Like most people, I deal with that by putting my food in a tupperware container where it's, you know, protected. My moldphobic colleague brings a big-ass cooler in to work with her everyday, full of ice and food, so she can safely leave it in her office. She also always packs every component of a dish separately, so for a sandwich, she'll have the 2 pieces of bread in one baggie, the meat in another, another each for the lettuce and tomato, etc. She doesn't bother with small packages of condiments, though; her cooler is so big she just brings whole jars of mayo and mustard, only to bring them home again at the end of the day, of course. She won't assemble her sandwich in the kitchen, because of the potential for mold, so she does it all in her office.

I've often wondered if she has to replace her fridge at home every time she leaves a tomato in there for too long. I don't care how tidy/phobic she is, everyone has had some mold grow in their fridge at one point or another.

I have another colleague who brings in a 24-pack of cans of Caffeine-Free Diet Coke every Monday, because that's how many she drinks every week. If the group goes out to a restaurant to celebrate someone's retirement or whatever, she brings a can with her, because restaurants don't tend to serve it and she won't drink anything else. Not even water, she says.