are we grownups yet? fridge issues

[Zoe Girl]

Seriously, I am so tired all of the refrigerator being stuffed full of old food that I am cleaning it out tonight. I am the last person here besides the cleaning crew so I can be confident that everyone got their lunch out. The fridge was packed all Spring Break and no one was here! (they disabled everyone's badges so I had to call safety and security daily to remind them that I was running a camp). Yeah I could just use my program's fridge or let it smell up the teacher's lounge but these things really bug me.

There are reasons, a really young teaching staff, an active PTA that keeps forgetting to throw things away, and no regular schedule of cleaning. Most places I have worked have a sign up and each person takes a Friday to clean out, you had better get your things out by Friday at 3 if you want to keep the tupperware!

[sweetana3]

I visited one site with employees and volunteers. The rule is that the fridge is totally cleaned out each Friday. No one is allowed to keep stuff in it over the weekend. Containers and all are thrown away. It has to apply to everyone or it does not work and the rules are in big letters and taped to the front of the fridge.

It really is the only way to manage an office fridge. Everyone will use it but no one will clean it out unless the rule is there to protect them.

[Alan]

I visited one site with employees and volunteers. The rule is that the fridge is totally cleaned out each Friday.....

There are three large double refrigerators at my worksite. One is labeled Monday, the second is labeled Wednesday and the third is labeled Friday. The overnight housekeeping staff dumps the contents of each fridge on its designated day....everything. Employees know better than to complain, the rules are clearly marked.

[Zoe Girl]

Yep, no one will take charge of this issue and it actually started to stink in the room. I am the after school person so I really don't have the authority, but I had talked to 4 people and no one was going to do anything so I just did it. I found chocolate milk expired in December, the container was ready to explode. The I read the room number on it, they have had at least 6 subs this year. But the eggs that also expired in December, mystery who they belonged to.

[razz]

I had a similar issue when I was watering the plants at the library. I would fill the watering cans at the nearby sink.n Despite lots of signs about the need for staff to wash their dishes and keep the sink clear, it would be filled with soiled dishes when I came to fill the watering can.
One evening, after complaining to the manager about the mess I was encountering on a regular basis, I totally lost it. The sink was piled high with dirty dishes and microwave containers. I walked to the reception area and asked if anyone was claiming any of the items in the sink. No one did. I scooped up everything and dumped it in the garbage which was cleared out that night. Some of these were treasured dishes brought in. I sent an email to the manager that night and said that I was going to do that each time I watered until staff cleaned up their mess.

Different staff told me that they had hated to go into the staff room as it was such a stinky mess and that they were delighted that someone finally set the standard.
As I was a valued volunteer doing a job that was needed, no one complained. The sink was cleared daily.
Just post a sign that whatever is left on a certain day, will be dumped and do it weekly.
Yes, people can be spoiled self-centred brats, not adults.

[iris lily]

On people being spoiled brats for their lunch routine: one employee where I worked (another library) related, lovingly, a story from the old days of working there where the custodial staff would take out employee's lunches from the refrigerator, warm them, and set them on a table at the employee's lunch time. She wa enthralled with that special coddling.

Your tax dollars at work. yeesh, talk about spoiled.

[Zoe Girl]

That is crazy, I don't even think my mom did that for us past a certain age. Over the summer we would make sandwiches and she would set out everything. We would be responsible for making our sandwich, choosing what else we wanted and then helping clean up. The old days are old for a reason,

I have been doing more lunches that don't need to be heated and at least I have my own microwave so I don't need to use that one. It tends to be gross as well. The front office staff have been there forever and they have their own microwave and mini-fridge and do NOT allow teachers to use either one. I used to think that was harsh, not any more! Mostly I would like to eat lunch with other people, I spend 6 hours a day in my office working alone unless there are meetings. So the paras eat in this room but I never see teachers in there.

[mschrisgo2]

...not to defend adults leaving pig messes...but most teachers have a maximum of 40 minutes for lunch, including getting the kids into the lunch room, which is often an issue where I teach.
(We are last lunch of 3, so if the others get behind on dismissing kids, we have to stand in the hall and wait until space is cleared. Then don't even get me started on the kids who sit and won't eat until an Adult opens all of their lunch packets for them, ugh!)

So lunch is now about 30 minutes. Wait for a turn at the microwave, meanwhile the Speech teacher needs to talk to you, and the school psychologist, then the behavior specialist, then the school secretary comes in with announcements - "because I didn't want to interrupt your classes"- then the school nurse pops in- "oh, good! I'm catching several of you at the same time, can you sign these, please" - bell rings. Did you get to eat 3 bites? Stick it in the fridge, get it later. Damn, never got a chance at the restroom, either.

Half way home, after some deep breathing at a stop light, you realize you are Starving! Oh, yeah, I never got to eat, and you remember shoving your lunch in the fridge, you hope that container doesn't get lost, it's one of your favorites...

That was my life for 20+ years. Then the grocery stores started selling packaged single serving salads, in their own disposable plastic containers, of course. Great! No waiting for the microwave, no dish to wash or worry about, just toss it, finished or not, because after all these years I know that "Later" is a myth. Most of the time, I get at least half of it eaten.

And I rationalize plastic that doesn't recycle with saving water by not washing a dish...

Please don't be so hard on the teachers.

(BTW, every school I've ever worked in, paras and teachers have separate lunch times.... "so the paras get to eat in peace.")

[ApatheticNoMore]

most places I have worked clean out the fridge every other friday (so leave something in and it will be gone including the dish). So most places pay someone to do this work basically and don't rely on volunteer labor and one only has to take their stuff home or lose it.