kitchen duty at work

ok, so at the office where I work, people take it in turn (on a roster) to be on kitchen duty.

kitchen duty involves unstacking the dishwasher, providing morning tea, picking up milk, topping up tea, coffee, sugar, etc, and making sure the dishwasher is stacked and turned on at the end of the day (or during the day, if it's full early.

if someone is too busy to do it on their day, or if they are going to be out of the office that day, they organise to swap with someone else, and they amend the roster accordingly.

but I've noticed a trend that I don't like ... when someone is away for a while (a week, a month...) people will "swap" with them, and then the person gets back from leave, and they're on several times in the first week or two when they're back - and they haven't been told that they'll be on!

is it just me, or is this really selfish?

if someone has been away for a while (ie: a week or more) then they haven't been benefiting from other people coming to *their* house with morning tea, milk, doing the dishes, etc ... why should they play catch up when back from their break?

IMO I think an office full of grown ups should be able to cope with picking up after themselves and doing without milk for ONE DAY if necessary, or if they really can't, going out and picking it up even if it's not "their turn" ...

Many of us diaries ahead for when we're on kitchen duty in advance so we can swap if we're going to be away just for the day or two, but when you're on holiday, surely swapping isn't necessary ...

What do others think?

yep, thats crappy.. its not that hard to clean up after yourself or get milk!!

i worked with men, and they were pigs - used my toilet for #2's and wouldnt clean it - there was a mens and ladies toilet i might add..
they used to leave their mugs in the sink with water and coffee/tea still in it - it would start curdling - they would just come along and rinse it out with cold water & make a cuppa - i used to wash them up but i stopped doing it after a year or so!
i stopped drinking out of the mugs & started using polystyrene! (sp?)
they would not go and get milk either!!! i had to do it!!!
its very frustrating!

Some people are so precious :rolleyes:

I wouldn't be swapping while on annual leave, it's not like your there in the morning enjoying the benefits of the kitchen then slacking off in the arvo.. your not there so why play catch-up IYKWIM.

But personally i find the idea of a roster for 'kitchen duty'a little odd anyway - can people not just rinse and stack their own cups/plates and bring in their own food?

That's pretty rude IMO. The person who's been on leave would have enough work to catch up on without cleaning the kitchen for those first days back as well - especially without knowing beforehand that they'll have to do it!

The whole roster thing does seem a bit odd to me though. We basically rinse our own stuff and put it in the dishwasher. If you notice it's full, turn it on. If it's finished, empty it. It only takes a minute out of each person's day, rather than one person cleaning up the kitchen for the whole day.

Not a fan of the kitchen roster, I think most people can look after themselves with putting cups in the dishwasher etc. Also, I do think it works better with a main overseer, normally reception, or one of the lower ranked admin staff, to look after milk orders, dishwasher on etc. Been there with that role myself and been at workplaces that functioned that way and it worked well.

Loathed the kitchen roster, always went awry, especially if someone forgot their shift. Then someone would get abusive that the last person did not do their role, but they had. Complete mess.

Agree that someone needs to be incharge or responsible for it as in my experience sadly it gets out of hand! We have a receptionist whose job it is - she hates it but at least things get done. It never ceases to amaze me how much mess there can be. Have you an avenue to suggest change? Chances are you are not the only one thinking this.

the roster doesn't bother me, doing it when it's my turn (and sometimes when it isn't ...) doesn't bother me - it's just the sense of entitlement some people seem to have, that X isn't here today, so I'll do it, but they'll have to "pay me back" when they get back from leave ...

either do it out of turn, or don't do it ... but don't expect someone who has been away for a month to be on duty the first three days they're back because (in your eyes) they owe you ...

and just because someone else is "on kitchen duty" doesn't mean you can leave your juice bottle on the table, noodles and a tea bag in the sink, and dirty cutlery on the bench ...

we're all adults.

that being said, I've worked in other places and I'm not sure why but there, something as basic as a kitchen seems to reduce otherwise intelligent, independent adults into teenage brats ... the state of the kitchen at one place I worked out was just vile ... rubbish all around (but not inside) the bin, food slops all over the bench and in the sink, fridge full of mould and furry gremlins, no one used the dishwasher, etc ... they just left it all like that for the cleaners at the end of the day ... :sick:

It's something I've learned over the years in my quite large office - even when we have a lovely kitchen lady who comes in every morning, stocks the milk and bikkies, cleans and maintains the coffee machine and does the bulk of the dishes etc...people somehow *still* manage to be grotty so and so's in a kitchen that isn't theirs. Kind of that whole "not my problem" mentality.