CEO threatens to fire any employee who doesn't replace milk in company fridge

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

http://consumerist.com/2011/09/pr-fi...-the-milk.html

The email might seem a bit hard, but as someone who deals with this at my home constantly, I sympathize with this guy. It's irritating as can be to want a cold glass of milk, only to find a few drops left in the jug or carton.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Somebody not replacing the milk when they use the last of it is an annoyance. Not a "boot your ass out the door no questions asked" kind of offense.

If this is how he responds to an annoyance, I'd hate to see how he reacts to something that really matters.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Subject: I don't know what else to do

Get your own milk?

ETA: Someone in the comments on there makes a good point...unless your next job is with a crazy person, explaining that you were fired for allegedly not replacing a carton of community milk seems to me like it would just make the boss look bad, not you.

And how is he gonna catch the culprit? Set up a webcam?

[lordlundar]

You know, another CEO a while back sent out a vitriolic memo like this as well. Due to a misinterpretation, it caused a panic about the company's standing in the market and caused the stock to plummet. The CEO personally lost several millions of dollars before he ever arrived at work that day.

[tropicsgoddess]

That is insanely petty of the CEO. I can understand if it was something like stealing somebody else's lunch but for not replacing milk?!! Good grief! Somebody really needs to rethink their priorities!

[Squeaksmyalias]

I have to say, this isn't so bad. The fact that he is paying for the milk and there is a store downstairs to buy it shows he isn't asking for something unreasonable, I'm guessing at least one person stops down there to grab snacks or lunch daily. He also said he is the first person there in the morning most days and said he will go get it as long as someone is told it is gone. People have been asked many times, and he is willing to get it himself as long as someone says there is no milk left or I'm guessing if someone said it's going to be finished soon it'd be a non issue. All he is really asking is for people to be considerate to the rest of the office, not just him.

There are plenty of CEOs who would expect people to go and pay for it themselves, and spend their own break time driving across town to get milk and other tasks that might only affect the boss, like picking up their laundry or taking their dog to the vet like my old boss used to make me do, without reimbursing them. This one really isn't bad, and if it was my boss and he asked me to grab milk or one of my coworkers asked me to while I was stopping by the store downstairs, I'd have no problem what so ever getting it. Like I said he is the one paying for it.

As for him firing the person, if people really can't listen to something that simple, who knows what else they are ignoring, for all we know they are f-ing things up or just being inconsiderate, which we all know those types of coworkers piss everybody off, and this is just the last straw. Plus you don't mess with people's caffeine intake, I give the guy a break who knows, he might have been missing a dose of caffeine when he wrote it.

[iradney]

I can completely see where he's coming from. At my company, people are too lazy to take three steps (THREE STEPS) to put the milk back in the fridge. So they end up leaving the milk out over night and over weekends. I'm normally the first person in the office, so every single morning, I have to throw away between 1 to 2 litres of milk that is now off. Because the last person to use it was too fucking lazy to put it back in the fridge. That kind of wastage is criminal.

Also, everything Sqeaksmyalias said.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

And how is he gonna catch the culprit? Set up a webcam?

Exactly. If you're going to write a vitriolic, sarcastic memo threatening termination over what is essentially a personal pet peeve, you better be ready to follow through on it.

Because I guarantee somebody is going to not replace the milk just to see if he's going to follow through on the threat.

[Iseeyouthere]

Hmm...
If people cry over spilt milk...
Then people must rage over having NO milk.
And people with milk are happy because they get their coffee.

[sms001]

I don't know, I'm kind of leaning toward coming down on the CEO's part in this. I've been lambasted here before for using the phrase "The principle of the thing." but I suspect that this isn't just about the milk. It's about working in an environment where team-play is very important, and someone is just not giving a rat's ass about their fellow employees, and this is just a very visible indicator of that behavior.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I gotta say I'm glad we don't have community milk where I work (though I probably wouldn't use it anyway...I have..issues). We do have half-n-half dispensers in the break rooms, and powdered creamer (neither of which I use, but then I don't drink coffee); also coffee, sugar, and tea bags. These things are all maintained by the cleaning staff. Sometimes I get a half pint of milk from the cafeteria for my tea and I might keep it in the fridge for a day or two. Our fridges don't get gross cuz if you leave anything in there over the weekend it will get tossed by the cleaning staff (lost a bottle of salad dressing that way once; but at least I know they're not kidding about it). But I work in a huge warehouse with several break rooms and a cafeteria, so it's too big have the sort of rules where everyone takes turns doing something or whatever.

When I worked in the store it got to the point that one of the managers started threatening to throw out any dishes that were left in the sink...people started listening when she started to follow through on it. There was also a sign above the sink that said "Your mother doesn't work here" (which is funny cuz there were a few people at times whose mothers actually did work there ).

[BuffySummers]

I work in a 5 person office, and yet someone still leaves dishes in the sink. Drives me crazy. Maybe will have to post warnings about throwing out dishes, like in Bookstore's old job. . .

And anybody who EVER puts back a carton of milk/juice/whathave you with only dribbles left deserves a solid smackin' - it's lazy, rude, and indicative of a complete lack of caring for other people around you.

I think the CEO's email was great.