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As a bit of a job-hopper, I’ve experienced a number of different work environments and cultures. This week, a friend told me about hers—namely the ‘milk wars’ she encounters at her place of work. It made me laugh at first, then I felt a bit sad that my friend and her colleagues were subject to such ridiculous measures to guard the vital ingredient of a good cuppa.

 

It seems I’ve led a varied but ultimately sheltered career, in that I’ve never been a participant in a milk war. I began to ask those around me for their stories about the provision of milk, tea and coffee at the places they’ve worked in. It became clear: I’m in the minority.

 

If you were to open the fridge in my friend’s workplace, there are numerous small cartons of milk with different initials plastered over them. One carton, which was the bit that made me laugh, had been drilled through the lid and the neck, and a padlock inserted.

 

A colleague told me that, in one place he’d worked, someone had treated themselves to his sandwich. In fact, they’d taken his whole sandwich box from the fridge and emptied its contents into their stomach. That sounds like sheer theft to me, but I suppose helping yourself to someone else’s milk is really no different.