Eating in an office

[Spiderman]

poor guys probably just trying to show you what a hard worked he is, in case any one asks.
Hence he waits for you to return (does he answer your fone and pass on message while you're at lunch?) and then goes off and brings food back so he can work and eat.

He'd probably appreciate you saying something to make him feel at ease about going to eat in the canteen. You will only know by chatting to the guy.

[Richie]

I've just banned eating in our rest room / office areas,

as we have a little visitor.... field mouse who is not welcome.

Yes I think you're being reasonable, I don't like the smell of stale food in the office either.

Personally, I don't think eating smelly food is acceptable in a small office. If it were a large office with air-con the smell wouldn't linger for too long.

It may be the case, that they don't wish to make friends or integrate with the rest of the company, and feel happier eating their lunch in front of a PC with the web for their entertainment.

Our canteen is a bloody noisy place, and I like a little peace and quiet at lunch time, most of us sit at our desks and chill, or more often than not, sadly work through lunch.

The other option is to play them at their own game, find out what really turns their stomach and have yourself a good few days feasting.

Lock the door and tell him to **** off.

Nobody eats in my office... its my law!!

You're unreasonable IMHO. We've recently had eating banned from our office, by our total w***er of a new manager who is throwing his weight around and is actually coming in out of hours so he can nobble other people breaking his ****ing rules (none of which, incredibly, mattered in the previous office)

I would LOVE to be able to eat at my desk. We have a 'breakout' area (why are they called this? It's a stupid name) with a freeview TV but it's invariably filled with tossers who are using it as a meeting area or to have loud business-related phone calls (there are two meeting rooms with doors just off this area, they've never been used). This means I can't enjoy the TV, and would therefore happily sit at my desk and read the internet while eating. This would also ensure that any work that crops up during my lunch can be dealt with immediately rather than coming back in to a huge pile of stuff.

I dare say this is why your guest is doing this. Too much work combined with unpleasant eating facilities.

I would ask your associate if he had some bizarre reason for eating at his desk when there is a perfectly good canteen facility,after all he is temporarily "sharing" and it is only manners that he respects the surrounds of the person he is sharing with.I also think that it becomes a health and safety issue eating in the workplace when facilities are provided.
I am not the most subtle of people regarding situations like this so is this accepted protocol by the other office employees.Quiet word in the H&S Representatives ear perhaps.

Probably wrong in todays forward thinking society but I always make my grandchildren sit at the table when eating,TV lap type dinners are a strict taboo in our house

[timwilky]

When we had a canteen on site, they would not allow you to eat food purchased elsewhere. They argued would you take your own food into a restaurant.

Thereby, people where forced to eat at their desks. Now not having access to any facilities. I had to eat my curry at the desk yesterday.

It depends IMO if your office is shared, and if the public come in. My colleague used to microwave herself a nice curry and garlic nan, in the vets, where people were coming in and out all day, and it stank. I'd have a word with your colleague-I don't want to be smelling stale chips all day.

[Gazza77]

Interesting to see a near 50/50 split in opinion on this. To give a bit more info....

The person in question is in my office as overspill from the office across the corridor, as the person he is on a fixed length contract to replace is on maternity. He's been here for over a year now, so it's not like it's someone I don't know, as I've seen and spoken to him daily over that period. It's a finance office in a hospital, so no public are ever in here, though I do get regular visits from senior members of staff.

All his colleagues eat at their desks on a daily basis, (which is there choice) and they often all go to get their lunch together. However, rather than all eating together in the canteen, they bring their food back to their office, or in this case, my office. Eating itself I do not have a problem with, it's the smell of the food that drives me up the wall. It's like spending the afternoon working in a kebab shop at times!