Penny Rich

Here's a pet peeve...

In the cafeteria in our office sits a refrigerator, with a freezer on top. The freezer is equiped with the necessary connections for an ice maker. The refrigerator sits next to the sink.

The obvious choice would be to connect the ice maker, and give everyone the ability to get ice on a regular basis. Our management had a better idea.

They bought 8 small ice cube trays. This in itself took some training, because they need to be stacked in alternating directions, or they nest together and all the water is pressed out. But after a few weeks, most of the employees had figured it out.

Now, when I go for ice, I am met by 8 empty ice trays, stacked nicely. Obviously, I should use my time, billed out at $150 an hour, to stop and fill these trays, and then come back again in a few hours, hoping that they are frozen but not yet drained by the untrained hordes.

Ten minutes to refill and place the trays in the freezer. Twice a week, fifty weeks a year.

Certainly, this is cheaper than the $40 needed to hook up an ice maker. And definately a morale booster, as I rethink the value that must be placed on my time...

I should be writing.