Have you ever come across anyone in a workplace with a similar sense of entitlement as this?

175mph · 18 Jun 2019

As you'd expect, most workplaces these days expect you to bring your own food instead of providing it, and any workplaces that do provide meals on site in a canteen is a luxury.

A place I worked at three years ago, a factory, the canteen was nothing more than a room for people eating their packed lunches with microwaves at one side of the room. We have someone new joining us and after he has been given a tour of the factory, he has a confused look on his face, asking where the restraunt is. He is told that the factory does not provide cooked food on site and that employees must bring their own food.

This goes straight over his head for some reason as during one break, he goes searching everywhere for what he thinks is 'hidden restraunt', even endangering himself by going through doors to areas of the factory that are off limits to him and only certain employees are allowed to access all in search of a nonexistent restaurant.

He sits down in the canteen patiently and when a line manager comes to find him later on, demanding to know why he hasn't returned to the factory floor, he explains he is waiting for a waiter to come and take his order as he clearly thought there was some kind of to your table service in the canteen.

When the penny finally drops that there is no restraunt whatsoever, he starts kicking off, complaining what kind of workplace has no restraunt, it's worse than working in a slum house in the 19th century.

How would you have explained things to him to dampen his arrogant sense of entitlement?

Also, has anyone here got a similar tale to share?

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PeterC · 19 Jun 2019

I just wonder how old he was. Back in the 20th century I would have expected a canteen but not these days.

I have worked at only one place with a table service restaurant but it was only available to senior management. Normally referred to as "Hog's Trough" by us peasants.

Cowley · 19 Jun 2019

I sat in my van this afternoon and made my own sandwiches.
Nobody made them for me.
Nobody cleared up afterwards.
There was no one to talk to.
I’ll probably be doing the same tomorrow...

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

PeterC said:
I just wonder how old he was. Back in the 20th century I would have expected a canteen but not these days.

I have worked at only one place with a table service restaurant but it was only available to senior management. Normally referred to as "Hog's Trough" by us peasants.

I was 23 at the time, and this guy was apparently about two or three years younger.

GusB · 19 Jun 2019

Over the years I've worked in a few places that had canteens, but not once have I ever encountered one that had waiter service!

175mph said:
I was 23 at the time, and this guy was apparently about two or three years younger.

Was his surname Rees-Mogg, perchance?

Cowley · 19 Jun 2019

GusB said:
Over the years I've worked in a few places that had canteens, but not once have I ever encountered one that had waiter service!

Was his surname Rees-Mogg, perchance?

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

GusB said:
Over the years I've worked in a few places that had canteens, but not once have I ever encountered one that had waiter service!

Was his surname Rees-Mogg, perchance?

Nope.

Cowley said:
I sat in my van this afternoon and made my own sandwiches.
Nobody made them for me.
Nobody cleared up afterwards.
There was no one to talk to.
I’ll probably be doing the same tomorrow...

I can be your waiter. Would you like fries with those sandwiches?

AlterEgo · 19 Jun 2019

Sounds like someone with a mild learning disability to react like that.

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

AlterEgo said:
Sounds like someone with a mild learning disability to react like that.

Oh, it later turned out that he did.

GusB · 19 Jun 2019

In the last large-ish establishment I worked in, there was a canteen, but it didn't operate any later than 6pm. The back shifts generally finished at 8pm, so anyone who had a break in the evening would either have to use one of the vending machines, or use one of the microwaves to heat up their own food. One of my colleagues who travelled in from one of the "fisher toons" would often have a bowl of home-made Cullen Skink as part of her packed supper. Everyone in the building knew when K's ma had supplied Cullen Skink, as the air conditioning system in the building made sure that the delicious aroma of fish soup was evenly distributed...

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

GusB said:
In the last large-ish establishment I worked in, there was a canteen, but it didn't operate any later than 6pm. The back shifts generally finished at 8pm, so anyone who had a break in the evening would either have to use one of the vending machines, or use one of the microwaves to heat up their own food. One of my colleagues who travelled in from one of the "fisher toons" would often have a bowl of home-made Cullen Skink as part of her packed supper. Everyone in the building knew when K's ma had supplied Cullen Skink, as the air conditioning system in the building made sure that the delicious aroma of fish soup was evenly distributed...

Did you ever make any for yourself to try the taste of?

GusB · 19 Jun 2019

175mph said:
Did you ever make any for yourself to try the taste of?

I've never made Cullen Skink for myself, but it's something that I will always go for in a cafe or restaurant if it's on the menu. It's a bit marmite, though, and I can understand why some people may turn their noses up at it - it does have a rather strong smell!

takno · 19 Jun 2019

I hate it when workplaces don't mention that they are lacking basic facilities like an onsite restaurant - it happened to me once and I'd given my butler the afternoon off. I had to eat something called a sandwich, which I did not care for in the slightest

GusB · 19 Jun 2019

takno said:
I hate it when workplaces don't mention that they are lacking basic facilities like an onsite restaurant - it happened to me once and I'd given my butler the afternoon off. I had to eat something called a sandwich, which I did not care for in the slightest

You give your butler time off? That's a bit lefty, surely. You'll be allowing them holidays next.

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

takno said:
I hate it when workplaces don't mention that they are lacking basic facilities like an onsite restaurant - it happened to me once and I'd given my butler the afternoon off. I had to eat something called a sandwich, which I did not care for in the slightest

And of course, it's a violation of your basic human rights if that onsite restaurant isn't a waited on one and the waiters wearing bow ties and roller skate to and from tables.

takno · 19 Jun 2019

GusB said:
You give your butler time off? That's a bit lefty, surely. You'll be allowing them holidays next.

To be honest he wasn't working out, by time off I really meant head start. In fact the terrible lack of pages on duty meant that I never even managed to order the hounds released and the cheeky scamp got clean away

175mph · 19 Jun 2019

takno said:
To be honest he wasn't working out, by time off I really meant head start. In fact the terrible lack of pages on duty meant that I never even managed to order the hounds released and the cheeky scamp got clean away

This is you and I claim my £10:

Mag_seven · 19 Jun 2019

PeterC said:
I have worked at only one place with a table service restaurant but it was only available to senior management. Normally referred to as "Hog's Trough" by us peasants.

My first workplace (late 80's) had three canteens:

1.One for manual workers.
2.One for middle management and clerical/office staff.
3.One for senior management that had waitress service, table cloths and a bar.

evoluzione · 19 Jun 2019

When I left school 30 or so years ago, I joined Royal Mail as a Postal Cadet in a big MLO (Mechanised Sorting Office) they had a subsided canteen.

Cheap as chips and really nice food everyone ate there, can’t remember the exact prices but pretty sure a big full English was something like 50p.

Open 24hrs as well, 4 snooker tables, pool tables the lot.

Now I’m lucky if the kettle works in some mess rooms.

Killingworth · 19 Jun 2019

About 15 years ago I worked in a building with a canteen and I think meals were served. It closed very soon after I joined because too few ate there. Hardly surprising when it only served from 12.00-13.30 Mon-Friday in an organisation that was by then operating shifts across 07.00-23.00 7 days a week. Originally provided in the days of 9-5, 5 days a week it had become uneconomic when few got lunch breaks at the traditional lunch time.

underbank · 19 Jun 2019

Pretty common for those who've never previously left academia. They're used to canteens at school, and at Uni, so (like other aspects of life), they've just never encountered "the real world" and dealing with real life such as advance planning your own lunch.

On a similar vein, I'm an accountant dealing mostly with consultants (personal service companies). Over the years, I've had quite a few people who've taken early retirement from the education system or NHS, who've set themselves up as consultants offering their services back to their previous employers. Nearly without fail, they find it hard to comprehend that they have to do their own admin - some seem to think that they can just send a pile of invoices/receipts to Companies House or HMRC for them to do the number crunching - when I point out that they either have to do it themselves or engage a book-keeper/administrator, they're aghast at the very thought of it. I recall one guy - a newly "retired" anaesthetist who, once he got over the shock of being responsible for paying his own bills and raising his own invoices, jumped at the suggestion that I could get my book-keeper to do it for him, but then went into a real strop/rage/rant when I gave him the quote as he thought that "someone else" would be paying for it to be done for him! They seem to think they can earn their silly hourly consultancy rates without any overheads or admin - complete denial as to what being in business really means!

telstarbox · 19 Jun 2019

Mag_seven said:
My first workplace (late 80's) had three canteens:

1.One for manual workers.
2.One for middle management and clerical/office staff.
3.One for senior management that had waitress service, table cloths and a bar.

How many people worked on the site?

yorksrob · 19 Jun 2019

I think it was a bit silly for him to kick off, but I've never heard the dining area in any of my places of employment described as a 'canteen'.

A canteen to me is very much ladies in hair nets serving up big plates of chips, sausages and baked beans.

Springs Branch · 19 Jun 2019

In the mid-1980s I had to spend a week working at my firm's facility in Ireland. This was a large manufacturing plant plonked incongruously in rural County Wexford, on account of some regional development grant or tax concession which the Irish Government was handing out at the time.

During my first morning’s orientation walk I noticed the substantial canteen on the ground floor – the kitchen apparently a hive of activity and cooking smells in abundance. That was alright then – lunches were sorted, especially as there weren’t any other alternatives in the vicinity.

About 12.30pm, feeling a bit peckish, I wandered back to the canteen hoping for a good, filling lunch. The whole place was quiet, deserted, shutters down and not a soul to be seen.

Disappointed and hungry I returned to the office I was sharing with a local colleague. “Of course the canteen’s closed now” he said, looking at me like I was some sort of eejit. “The canteen ladies have to have their lunch break, you know.”

Was this the world’s only works canteen which closed between 12.00 and 13.00 so the canteen staff could have their lunch hour?

baz962 · 19 Jun 2019

evoluzione said:
When I left school 30 or so years ago, I joined Royal Mail as a Postal Cadet in a big MLO (Mechanised Sorting Office) they had a subsided canteen.

Cheap as chips and really nice food everyone ate there, can’t remember the exact prices but pretty sure a big full English was something like 50p.

Open 24hrs as well, 4 snooker tables, pool tables the lot.

Now I’m lucky if the kettle works in some mess rooms.

You have a kettle?

Cowley · 19 Jun 2019

Springs Branch said:
In the mid-1980s I had to spend a week working at my firm's facility in Ireland. This was a large manufacturing plant plonked incongruously in rural County Wexford, on account of some regional development grant or tax concession which the Irish Government was handing out at the time.

During my first morning’s orientation walk I noticed the substantial canteen on the ground floor – the kitchen apparently a hive of activity and cooking smells in abundance. That was alright then – lunches were sorted, especially as there weren’t any other alternatives in the vicinity.

About 12.30pm, feeling a bit peckish, I wandered back to the canteen hoping for a good, filling lunch. The whole place was quiet, deserted, shutters down and not a soul to be seen.

Disappointed and hungry I returned to the office I was sharing with a local colleague. “Of course the canteen’s closed now” he said, looking at me like I was some sort of eejit. “The canteen ladies have to have their lunch break, you know.”

Was this the world’s only works canteen which closed between 12.00 and 13.00 so the canteen staff could have their lunch hour?

Love it.

takno · 19 Jun 2019

evoluzione said:
When I left school 30 or so years ago, I joined Royal Mail as a Postal Cadet in a big MLO (Mechanised Sorting Office) they had a subsided canteen.

Cheap as chips and really nice food everyone ate there, can’t remember the exact prices but pretty sure a big full English was something like 50p.

Open 24hrs as well, 4 snooker tables, pool tables the lot.

Now I’m lucky if the kettle works in some mess rooms.

When I worked at Halifax 15 years ago all the head offices had subsided canteens. Not actually cheap once Sodexho had taken their cut, but quite handy when you were working in a giant shed in the middle of nowhere. On the downside we never got anywhere near a kettle and had to pay 7p a go for a thimbleful of hot water from the vending machines. Pretty sure I'd have preferred to have a kettle and take sandwiches

Killingworth · 19 Jun 2019

When I visited Network Rail's Square One building in Manchester recently I was greatly impressed with the range of catering facilities available. Spoilt for choice, snacks to full meals.

PeterC · 19 Jun 2019

yorksrob said:
I think it was a bit silly for him to kick off, but I've never heard the dining area in any of my places of employment described as a 'canteen'.

A canteen to me is very much ladies in hair nets serving up big plates of chips, sausages and baked beans.

Where I have worked it has only been HR that called it a "staff restaurant". Most have been that style of self service.

district · 19 Jun 2019

The supermarket I used to work for had a heavily subsided canteen. Originally it did food all day and into the evening, then just breakfast only, then eventually it was closed and we got an additional discount on food to go items to compensate.

Have you ever come across anyone in a workplace with a similar sense of entitlement as this?

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