update: the admin is policing my soda consumption

Remember the letter from the person whose soda consumption was being monitored and judged by the office admin? Here’s the update.

I had many months of peace, in part due to my boss telling the admin to lay off and in part because I was fully remote for a couple of months due to some family stuff.

The dirty looks when I went to the kitchen continued when I got back but whatever, I can deal.

And then yesterday happened. I go to the office, get three cans of soda to bring back to my desk (to avoid the scrutiny of three separate kitchen visits). I drink one, then place two in my desk drawer. I go to an in-person meeting, during which I see the admin scan the room to see who is in the meeting.

I get back to my desk and both sodas are gone.

I escalated to my boss immediately, as well as submitted an HR report. My boss let me know today it’s been escalated to his boss and the admin’s boss, and reiterated that going into my desk to confiscate soda was incredibly inappropriate.

I am so hoping this is the end of sodagate. I hate that this much is being stirred up over, I cannot emphasize this enough, 30 cent soda cans.

To answer some questions from the commenters: Yes, I really drink 3-5 cans of soda a day at work, when I’m in the office twice a week at most. Yes, that’s more than most people. Yes, it’s extremely true that work doesn’t need to subsidize this habit, but I have confirmation from people handling the office budget that my soda consumption is not the issue.

We order giant flats of soda from Costco and get a discount because of the nature of our business. I am not the only person in the office with a soda habit and I’m not drinking more than anyone else, when you calculate how much soda everyone drinks in a week.

I promise I’m not shining this up to make myself look better. I’ve never had an issue with an admin like this before, and I generally get along great with the admins at my jobs — they’re overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated. I would be more than happy to take over soda management duties (restocking the fridge, etc) if it got this admin (who has a reputation for being prickly and playing favorites) off my back.

Anyway. Thank you, Alison, for a reality check that this is cuckoo banana pants. I did try the Cherry Coke Zero at your suggestion and it is delicious.

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