BC Business
Our new column seeks to answer a few of the disagreements you might encounter in the working world.
Office etiquette (behaviour, style, etc.) looks a lot different than it used to. BCB‘s new print column seriously debates some not-so-serious but deeply divisive questions: for example, is it okay to microwave popcorn in the office kitchen?
Sit back and grab the—er, you know—as we discuss.
It’s absolutely disruptive. We’re all for heating up your lunch, but popcorn in particular has a smell that lingers for days (if not months), and adds its odour to everything else your officemates try to microwave during that period (and it’s even worse when it’s burnt). Of course, that also means the kitchen itself smells like popcorn, a scent that then wafts toward unsuspecting co-workers at their desks. And the sound of popping? Worse than a loud typer.
It’s just popcorn—it’s really not that deep. If we’re coming into the office five days a week, are we actually going to restrict what our co-workers eat? It’s ludicrous to expect people to only eat sterile, aroma-free food. And at the end of the day, the smell of popcorn isn’t exactly strong—it’s just recognizable, which makes people comment on it. What’s so different between that and heating up a piece of chicken? That’s what kitchens are for.
Certain scents can be detected at lower parts per million. Popcorn is one of them—that’s thanks to butyric acid, a chemical compound that’s part of dairy products like butter (it’s also famously present in vomit). Popcorn smell can be detected by humans at 10 parts per million, which is why the scent can feel so obtrusive. Because of that, I believe you should swap your microwave corn for the bagged, pre-popped kind when in the office: that way, no one loses.
61% say it’s fine to pop popcorn in the office
39% say it’s not okay