Читать книгу Blaikie’s Guide to Modern Manners - Thomas Blaikie - Страница 29

Eating in the workplace and eating on the street (see Munch as you go and What’s that smell?, page 15) can upset in the same way, only the former is worse because certain sights and smells are harder to escape indoors. In an office, people being known to each other, it could be that loathing of what someone is eating is really loathing of them. But actually some food is unbearable just by itself, Batchelors CupaSoup being the shining example. Zoe says, ‘Rice cakes! Ugh! Why do adults have to eat baby food?’ At least she can stay in the room with them but when a male colleague tucks into his daily takeaway, she has to hide in the toilets. ‘One MD’s office I knew smelt so bad nobody could stand to go in,’ says Matt. ‘The business nearly collapsed because nobody was telling the guy anything. It turned out he liked cheese and he used to keep some weird stinky French stuff in there.’

 Many workplaces have rules about eating at your desk. Where there are none, avoid smelly food. Watch out for your colleagues crinkling their noses.

 Food that might be all right elsewhere won’t really do in the workplace – fish and chips, burgers, Indian or Chinese takeaway. It’s the smell. It just doesn’t go with the nice clean office smells of computers, paper and rubber plants. Also, it’s all very well when a whole group is chomping through a takeaway, but one person gnashing away on their own isn’t an attractive sight.