Workplace Coffee Etiquette and Remembering Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

So at work, there are two large coffee carafes – one containing Starbucks coffee, and one containing Folgers. Both taste terrible, partly due to the fact that the grounds are all pre-packaged and partly due to the fact that the containers likely haven’t been cleaned between each use.

But hey, it’s hot. And it’s free. And I’m trying to save money. And somewhere, beyond the awful burnt taste is a modicum of caffeine.

As it is in most offices across the world, the bane of the shared kitchen is the person who taps the coffee and leaves refilling it to the next guy. Large or small, all companies have these guys.

Yesterday morning, as I was washing out my mug in the sink… guy in front of me finishes off the pot. We’re both in the kitchen doing other things (he’s also getting some water), and I go to fill my cup – nada. He’s standing right there, and nary an offer to help or even a “Oh, sorry about that.”

I circle back to the kitchen a bit later, as the Starbucks is finishing brewing. A girl walks up, taps out the Folgers, and then walks away. Though the Starbucks was going at the time, when she moved away the brewing had stopped – but she didn’t even check to see if she could have refilled things. Both guys were of a “I’m good, I’m out!” mentality.

Refilling the coffee isn’t that huge a deal, but having two people fill up and walk away in sequence was worth noting. Ah man, if only Terry Tate worked in the office:

It’s an old, old commercial… but man, is it still great. The guy with the recycling is my favorite moment, and his scream at the end is what makes it.

On a positive note: the team I’m on (a group of about nine of us) collectively purchased a French Press. So when folks roll in later in the AM, there’s usually a batch of the good stuff going on in our area.

Related:
Jonathan’s Starbucks Card Experiment: Take a Coffee, Leave a Coffee
Coffee Is For Closers
La Esmeralda: The Most Expensive Coffee in the World @ Intelligentsia