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The thorny office politics of a shared fridge

Tale of missing fried rice sheds light on office politics and fridge etiquette
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In the realm of office politics, nothing stirs up conflict quite like the office fridge, a cold war waged with passive aggressive Post-It notes and decomposing leftovers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Stace Maude

A story about a missing lunch of shrimp fried rice that is captivating social media is shedding light on an often overlooked but highly contentious aspect of office politics: fridge etiquette.

Eddy Ng, a professor at Dalhousie UniversityBԪַs Rowe School of Business, says interactions around the office refrigerator BԪַ replete with passive aggressive Post-It notes and decomposing leftovers BԪַ reveal human behaviour in the workplace.

He says the shared fridge is a microcosm of office dynamics, serving to accentuate interpersonal skills, communication styles and personality types.

ItBԪַs also the scene for a comical tale about stolen shrimp fried rice that has gripped social media for days and spurred an online exchange of woes from cubicle-land.

Zak Toscani, a writer and stand-up comedian from Los Angeles, took to Twitter last week after his co-workerBԪַs lunch was stolen.

He joked that the missing food was shrimp fried rice, escalating the crime from a misdemeanour to a felony, and mused that it was a BԪַprofessional hit no doubtBԪַ due to the lack of a shrimp smell in the microwave or kitchen.

Toscani said his hungry co-worker asked to view security footage of the communal fridge, and detailed to his online followers how the investigation unfolded.

His sensational account of the office drama BԪַ he quipped that it was the most excited heBԪַd ever been BԪַat any job everBԪַ BԪַ went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes and re-tweets.

The workplace spat appears to have hit a nerve among workers affected by the seemingly unscrupulous actions of self-appointed fridge police.

The Canadian Press

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