Annual Grumpy PSA: Holidays, Food, and Fuck You
It's the holiday season, which means someone gave you cookies (or maybe you baked), and you, being the nice person you are, have decided to share them with your co-workers.
Please be mindful of co-workers with food allergies. Ideally, keep your food at home or distribute it individually, but if you have your heart set on bringing that whole box of candies / cookies / fruitcake to work, please consider:
-keeping it in a resealable, airtight container, with ingredients clearly listed;
-keeping it in your own office and inviting others to partake there, rather than leaving it in a public area;
-putting out napkins, plates, or other debris-mitigating stuff with the food;
-not bringing food into areas that anyone needs access to in order to do their job, i.e. meeting rooms, mailrooms, reception areas, etc.
-not pressuring people to take food as a gift or to eat food they've declined when it was offered.
And please remember to wash--really wash, with soap and water; hand sanitizer won't cut it--your hands between eating and handling papers or other materials that will be routed to other co-workers.
The holidays SUCK for people with severe food allergies*: the ubiquity of food and the death-grip interconnection of food and community this time of year are both socially marginalizing and physically hazardous. Please don't make it worse than it already is.
*Not just food allergies, actually. I have a friend who's deathly allergic to that artificial cinnamon shit they spray in all the malls and grocery stores and lobbies and basically every indoor public place this time of year. She's pretty much housebound between October and January. Plus, in general, asthma already exacerbated by cold weather + tons of particles in the air = extra bonus lack of fun.
Please be mindful of co-workers with food allergies. Ideally, keep your food at home or distribute it individually, but if you have your heart set on bringing that whole box of candies / cookies / fruitcake to work, please consider:
-keeping it in a resealable, airtight container, with ingredients clearly listed;
-keeping it in your own office and inviting others to partake there, rather than leaving it in a public area;
-putting out napkins, plates, or other debris-mitigating stuff with the food;
-not bringing food into areas that anyone needs access to in order to do their job, i.e. meeting rooms, mailrooms, reception areas, etc.
-not pressuring people to take food as a gift or to eat food they've declined when it was offered.
And please remember to wash--really wash, with soap and water; hand sanitizer won't cut it--your hands between eating and handling papers or other materials that will be routed to other co-workers.
The holidays SUCK for people with severe food allergies*: the ubiquity of food and the death-grip interconnection of food and community this time of year are both socially marginalizing and physically hazardous. Please don't make it worse than it already is.
*Not just food allergies, actually. I have a friend who's deathly allergic to that artificial cinnamon shit they spray in all the malls and grocery stores and lobbies and basically every indoor public place this time of year. She's pretty much housebound between October and January. Plus, in general, asthma already exacerbated by cold weather + tons of particles in the air = extra bonus lack of fun.