Coworker’s Diaries: Meal Rituals

Eating at work might sometimes feel uncomfortable. After all, nothing compares to the coziness of your home, right? Well, the truth is that Work&Share offers everything you need to feel at home when eating at the office. Our coworking space is equipped with two kitchens and a garden table. One thing is certain – you can always find good company for your meal when you are at Work&Share. This is the story of how I fell in love with a kitchen.

CHANGE OF PERCEPTION

The cliché says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Maybe a couple of years back, I would have blindly agreed to such a statement, but Work&Share made me rethink my position. The reason is that at our coworking space, every meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or just a snack, can be “the most important” of the day because of the atmosphere, the people, and the feeling of coziness you get at Work&Share. This is the story of how I fell in love with a kitchen (or two, to be precise) and the idea of having my meals at the workplace.

Let’s start from the beginning. I’ve always found it awkward to eat at the workplace or around colleagues. Whether it was because of the kitchen, the people, or something else, I always found it kind of odd. Is it just me, or does every time I eat an apple around people, it feels like the sound of my chewing can be heard from two blocks away? After all, when you are at the office, you are not supposed to have all the advantages of being home when it comes to the kitchen and eating.

The first place that truly changed my view on this topic was Work&Share. This is the first and still the only office where I can say I’ve felt comfortable eating at the office, and I will try to point out the reasons why by giving you a little bit of background as well.

MY OFFICE KITCHEN EXPERIENCE

I’ve changed a couple of jobs and therefore offices over the years. The biggest part of my working career so far has been at a large media corporation with over 1000 employees. I spent something like 10 years there (you can tell by the photos from my early TV years and the amount of hair on my head, and the later ones where I’ve gradually accepted the fact that I’m getting bald). During this time, the company changed buildings twice. After 10 years at one company, you would think that I would feel the office like a home, right? And it’s true on many levels, but not when it comes to eating and kitchens there. I never felt quite comfortable eating there. Even in the kitchen, I always felt the working environment, and every meal seemed kind of rushed. I loved every minute of my job, but I can’t say I was that fond of the minutes I spent in those kitchens.

Of course, nobody changes his or her job because of that. Years later, I finally decided to change my job and try something new (not because of the kitchens). I found myself in a more modern building, but it turned out that the kitchen was small, to say the least. We were about 200 people, and the kitchen was something like 15 square meters. Another problem was the equipment, as the kitchen in the office didn’t have some of the basic things you might need like dishes for all, forks, etc. The biggest disadvantage of all, though, was the fact that it didn’t lead to any teambuilding or bonding between the people. We were like workers at a factory taking shifts to use the kitchen, and best-case scenario, only four people could eat there together at the same time.

YOU WILL KNOW SHE IS THE RIGHT ONE WHEN YOU SEE HER

So, a year later, it was time for another change of jobs (again – not because of the kitchen, or at least not only because of the kitchen). Here I was at Work&Share.

I’m a man of routine. Most of my days start off with a 45-minute walk in the park with the dog, then an hour-long workout at the gym, and after that, I’m off to our coworking space. The first thing I do at Work&Share is to prepare my oatmeal using the kettle in the office kitchen. I love these moments as the coworking space has a very relaxing rhythm in the morning. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the day. I’ve spent countless hours in this kitchen enjoying my breakfast while talking to different people. It gives you a specific energy to kickstart your day.

Then comes the lunch period. Somewhere around 11 o’clock, you are sure to hear someone complaining that they are already hungry and we should go grab something for lunch. Usually, you stall for 45-60 minutes and then you all go together as a group. Work&Share’s location is definitely one of the big advantages of our coworking space. I’m not just saying it because of its closeness to the city center or the subway stations, but also because there are plenty of places to eat around the office. Sometimes this even creates an unsolvable dilemma. You have fancy restaurants, pizza places, fast food joints, big supermarkets, and many more options all within a 5-minute perimeter around Work&Share.

Lunch time is a special period in the life at the coworking space. Both the two kitchens inside and the table outside get very vibrant. This is often the moment when you can see for yourself how diverse and interesting work is at this office. Architects, IT professionals, and people from the advertising business all sitting together discussing different things, from the latest episode of “Desafío” to last night’s EURO game. It’s enriching on many levels. For example, even if you don’t watch “The Bachelor,” if you happen to sit two or three days in a row with other people for lunch at Work&Share, chances are that by the fourth day you will know everything about the show even if you haven’t seen a single minute of it.

WORK&SHARE’S KITCHEN EQUIPMENT

I already pointed out the two kitchens, but let me get into more detail. Both of the kitchens at Work&Share offer enough room and plenty of equipment. I’m not just talking about utilities. At our coworking space, we have two big fridges for all of our colleagues to store their food (and sometimes forget it for months in the fridge). Work&Share is also equipped with microwaves, a multicooker, a kettle for water, and other kitchen items I don’t even know the names of. Legend says that many years ago, someone even tried to cook fish there, and maybe that’s the reason why now the multicooker is only used after approval from the Work&Share management.

BONDING LIKE NO OTHER

For all my working years, I’ve come to learn some valuable lessons. Nothing makes people bond better than disliking the same person, complaining about the same work problems, or having their lunch together. And Work&Share gives you all the platform you need to do all of these. Sometimes even at the same time – complaining about your boss and the task he gave you while having a meal with a colleague you like. Priceless…