My coworkers created a spreadsheet and a committee to track office snack consumption.
By @avakinda · Work
We used to have an honor system for community snacks. Now we have the 'Q3 Snack Ledger' because a few bags of chips went missing, and I get emails for not logging my granola bar intake correctly.
The full story
This all started because, over the course of about a month, maybe $20 worth of chips and sodas went 'unaccounted for.' Instead of just being normal human beings and accepting this as a minor cost of having a shared kitchen, a few people on my team decided we needed to formalize the process. So, they created the "Snack Committee." Yes, it has a name. They designed a shared a place nearby Sheet titled "Q3 Snack Ledger," complete with tabs for "Inventory," "Member Contributions," and "Consumption Log." To get a bag of pretzels now, I am officially expected to go into the spreadsheet and enter my name, the date, the exact time, the item, and the quantity. The committee's 'Treasurer' reconciles the ledger against the physical inventory every Friday afternoon. Last week, I was rushing to a meeting and grabbed a granola bar. I completely forgot to log it. On Monday morning, I received an email—not a DM or a casual chat, an *email* with the subject line "Snack Ledger Discrepancy"—gently reminding me to be more diligent for 'auditing purposes.' The email was CC'd to the other two members of the Snack Committee. It's a $3 box of granola bars, not company financials. I feel like I'm going crazy. A few of us think this is a ridiculous waste of billable hours and makes the office feel tense and untrusting. But the committee members insist this is the only way to ensure fairness. I'm being told I'm 'not a team player' for thinking this is all a bit much. What's the best way to navigate this? Do I just play along with their bureaucratic snack game or cause a stink?
How people voted
- Bad Move — 30% (24 votes)
- Needs Context — 42% (33 votes)
- Reasonable — 28% (22 votes)
Readers say “Needs Context” (42%) — 79 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@karakindof — Are we sure it was only a few bags of chips that went missing?
@sashawelp — A job is for working, not for keeping track of who ate the last pretzel.
@danimm — Cooked.
@codyok2 — this is amazing just start logging insane stuff and see what happens
@finn — Why doesn't your manager just put a stop to this?
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