Break Room Etiquette and Fish?

classycouture

I'm curious to what everyone's thoughts are on leftover fish being reheated for lunch at work the next day. I never really thought about it before until about 20 minutes ago when I reheated last nights fish dinner and was greeted with disgusted looks and comments from a handful of coworkers about the smell. Now, I like to get the most for my money (seeing I don't have that much to go around), so I plan my meals with lunch leftovers in mind. Do I really have to pay attention to the food that I'm bringing into work, just because a few people don't care for the smell?

_DaniD_

My day sucks bad enough, I don't want to smell stinky fish.

NutellaAddict

Why don't you eat it for dinner instead?

TylerJ76

People will find something to whine about no matter what.

Cook your fish and enjoy it...


Now burnt popcorn?....

LittleMissNerdy

We actually have a rule here about fish in the microwave :laugh:

SteveJWatson

Fish is good, healthy food.

Unless its like, old kippers or something, people who whinge about the smell of it cooking can GTFO.

spfldpam

It's nasty! I have co workers at my office that do this all the time and I walk around with my nose covered by my shirt sleeve! A big office no no I feel.

spade117

Fish is something I usually don't have leftovers of. Even if there is leftovers, it's never been something we have saved.

WinnerVictorious

We actually have a rule here about fish in the microwave :laugh:

should be a law IMHO. same thing with microwave popcorn.

why should everyone else in the office be forced to endure one person's food odors?

if the odor just stayed in the break room, it wouldn't be so bad, but modern office buildings circulate that air all over the building.

SteveJWatson

Are people who work in offices just naturally oversensetive darlings then?

If you dont like the smell of a perfectly usual foodstuff - its your problem, stop being so pathetic.

Shannonpurple

Yes that is rude to people around you.

Zandia_1

Yeah. That's not cool. I used to be in an office near the break room and once a week someone would stink up break room. The problem is, that after the break was over and they went on their merry little way, I was stuck in a cloud of fishy fumes in my office for the rest of the day. :sick:

However, if you cook fresh fish in the microwave the smell doesn't linger. Although I've never done it at work, I've cooked seasoned tilapia in the microwave on high for 5 minutes and the smell quickly dissipates.

Cameron_1969

Gotta agree w/ the consensus here. it's that ONE thing you just can't cook in an office environment. .

Jxnsmma

We actually had a building wide email from mgmt stating microwaving fish was not allowed in the building because we have a no scent policy LOL

LittleMissNerdy

And maybe I'm just weird, but I'm not one to warm up certain things and fish is one of them. I'm fine eating cold salmon.

auroranflash

Reheat fish if you hate and/or want to troll your coworkers really bad. Follow it up with afternoon popcorn.

Richie2shoes

As long as people continue to over load on perfume and cologne, I'll reheat fish in the microwave.

happywithme12

That is the damn truth I work with a bunch of women and they always *****ing about something

WinnerVictorious

Reheat fish if you hate and/or want to troll your coworkers really bad. Follow it up with afternoon popcorn.

especially if you work in a different building. go to their building during lunch, use their break room, then return to your building.

+1

gimmegimmemoar

Everyone has the right to eat, but I sure don't enjoy the smells... Hence why I wait to eat or go somewhere else!

Bumdrahp

I do it. I don't care. I am eating healthy, and could care less what others think. I do Tilapia or Salmon with brussels! Not a *kitten* is given.

happywithme12

I noticed most of the people that said not to are women so I will be the opposite I work with one person who hates fish and she always runs her mouth when i heat it up and she has to smell it, well guess what I hate the smell of people bathing in there perfume, I don't think there is anything wrong with it and you should just ignore those people because they will always always find something to complain about no matter what you do. Enjoy your fish the smell goes away after a little while, just make sure you smile while you eat it so they know how much you are enjoying it lol and don't worry about the whiney babies

SteveJWatson

I do it. I don't care. I am eating healthy, and could care less what others think. I do Tilapia or Salmon with brussels! Not a *kitten* is given.

Thank you!

I was beginning to think that people with office jobs were born pathetic or had somehow reverted to being children.

MinnieInMaine

I like the idea of it being part of the no scent policy!! Same thing as avoiding perfumes/colognes IMHO as strong odors are highly offensive. One of my office buddies hates fish so much she will actually be on the verge of getting physically ill if she smells fish cooking. And while I'm a big fan of fish, I do not want that smell around me when I'm at work. It is way too strong and it lingers and messes with my head. It's one thing to smell fish when you're preparing to eat it but when you're smelling that while eating your turkey sandwich, it's kind of disturbing.

OP, you can still plan fish into your weekly meals, just cook it Thursday or Friday night and have the leftovers on the weekend (assuming you work Mon-Fri). Or make smaller batches. Or freeze the leftovers to have for dinner the next week.

SteveJWatson

I noticed most of the people that said not to are women so I will be the opposite I work with one person who hates fish and she always runs her mouth when i heat it up and she has to smell it, well guess what I hate the smell of people bathing in there perfume, I don't think there is anything wrong with it and you should just ignore those people because they will always always find something to complain about no matter what you do. Enjoy your fish the smell goes away after a little while, just make sure you smile while you eat it so they know how much you are enjoying it lol and don't worry about the whiney babies

moosegt35

I do it. some of the maroons here burn popcorn everyday as if you can't learn how to cook popcorm by your mid 40's so they can get over the fish smell.

dmurphy1975

When I heat up my leftover fish someone usually comments on how good my lunch smells. Of course I am in an office with many people who cook and eat healthy real foods.

BamBam125

Smelly food in the break room doesn't bother me a bit. I say enjoy the fish! Unless it's just REALLY strong I don't see the problem with it. My roommate in college used to hate the smell of Thai food. I worked part time at a Thai restaurant, so I often got free Thai for meals to-go (food is a nice perk to offset the low pay on a slow day for a broke college kid). Sure she complained sometimes but I hated the smell of her Dorritos, so it was even in my mind. It's a place where food is cooked and eaten, I don't see much of a problem if the place smells like food.

Smelly food that's eaten at one's desk... that might bother me. I try to be careful about NOT having smelly stuff at my desk (including drinks or lotions) because one's desk should be free of one's neighbor's wandering smells.

dirtnap63

Hmmm, my first thought was "Why the heck not? If someone doesn't like it that's their problem." After all, scents are very subjective, and what might be a pleasant odour for one person (coffee for ex.) may be pretty nasty for someone else. There was a thread recently about scent likes and dislikes. I bet if someone went through them( not me I'm too lazy) there would probably be some crossover from the like and dislike categories. So where do you draw the line?
However in the interest of office harmony, I'd put it to a vote, majority rules.
At the end of the day though you really have to ask yourself if it's worth raising a stink over?

LittleMissNerdy

What about using a toaster oven? Would that cut down on the fishy smell? That's if your office has one.

SteveJWatson

Hmmm, my first thought was "Why the heck not? If someone doesn't like it that's their problem." After all, scents are very subjective, and what might be a pleasant odour for one person (coffee for ex.) may be pretty nasty for someone else. There was a thread recently about scent likes and dislikes. I bet if someone went through them( not me I'm too lazy) there would probably be some crossover from the like and dislike categories. So where do you draw the line?
However in the interest of office harmony, I'd put it to a vote, majority rules.
At the end of the day though you really have to ask yourself if it's worth raising a stink over?

Interesting.

I am now a livestock farmer - before this I spent years as a trout farmer. Every day, at least twice a day, someone would have to empty the deads bucket and the guts bucket from the processing room into the big barrels of deads + guts that got emptied once every few months. Everybody had to do it when it was their turn.

If you couldn't put up with the smell you were a p u s s y and it was open season on you for ridicule. I have seen a grown man vomit doing this job in summer and he still carried on and finished the job.

A bad cooking smell? Just suck it up and get on with your life.

Edited to add: we had more than one woman employed gutting fish who did the above job without flinching.