i got caught with a sandwich on my table

And because food is not allowed in our work area, boss Mark (our office director) made me eat a can of corned beef and a can of spam!

Here’s what I can tell you about our office – we have free food, lots of them. Examples:

1.       Weekly Team Tuesdays: there’s bread and different spreads, or sometimes, kakanin in the pantry.

2.       Weekly Picnic Wednesdays: we have rice and viand.

3.       Weekly Friday team meetings: we order food from restaurants (e.g. Shakeys, Bon Chon, etc.).

Those above are the regular food days… and our office can think of numerous other reasons to have food on other days. Examples:

1.       Last Christmas/New Year holiday, free lunch was served in the pantry 3 times a day for about 10 days.

2.       Just this week, because one of our stakeholders from London arrived, our team (about 20 people) had dinner at Bubba Gump and somewhere in Fort Bonifacio.

3.       When boss Mark invites you to the “feeding program”, it means that you’ll eat in a restaurant, and you’ll need to eat a lot. And you have to finish everything that’s served to you.

Then, there are totally random moments when an employee will find him/herself fed because of things that were said or done. Examples:

1.       KC and her teammates just finished eating Team Tuesday food. They didn’t go back to their work stations right away and continued chatting in the pantry. Boss Mark saw them and commented that they should have food while chatting, so he asked the help to prepare two cans of spam for each to finish.

2.       Chico posted a Facebook status that he’s craving for pork and beans. Some minutes later, 4 bigs cans of pork and beans were prepared for him in the pantry.

3.       And then, there’s what happened to me… and Wilson. When boss Mark saw my sandwich on my table, he ordered his assistant to prepare the spam and corned beef for me. I was forcing myself to finish the food, but I wasn’t alone because a group of people were cheering for me. Boss Mark came and chatted for a moment, and then he asked how the others were doing. Wilson, sitting across from me, commented that he still has lots of work to catch up on. Boss Mark concluded that he needed to store up energy for his work ahead, so he had 2 cans of spam prepared for him. Wilson was devastated but I was laughing my head off. =D

Of all the food occasions I mentioned, we only contribute money for Picnic Wednesdays. But that’s just a measly amount and that’s also only when it’s our team’s schedule to host the event.

I’ve just started working in our office 3 months back, and I’ve already gained 2.5 kilos. Our work may sometimes be difficult, but damn, if we’re well fed and having fun every week, I’d say that our office… is the best office… Ever.

Jasper cheering me up. Photo by Franc T.