It’s always funny when a boss fixates on the one thing no one else sees as a problem.

So what would you do if your boss suddenly scolded everyone for “leaving half-eaten food out,” even though it was mid-morning and you had just stepped away from your snack to get work done?

Would you agree and move on? Or could you show him better than you could tell him?

In the following story, one employee finds herself in this situation and decides to show him that she wasn’t done.

Here’s the full story.

Don’t leave food out? Okay!

I work in an environment where we can’t eat at our desks for safety reasons, so we have a break area where we keep food and drinks.

The Big Boss came to our department for a random visit (he likes to pop in just to see if we’re actually doing work), and on his way out, noticed the break area and went to investigate.

My coworker prefers to snack rather than eat large meals, so she typically eats her breakfast a little at a time. This morning, she had a protein bar and ate half before going back to her desk to continue working.

The supervisor reminded him it was still morning.

He saw the protein bar and returned to our desk area.

Big Boss: “Please ensure all food is eaten or thrown away by the end of the day. We don’t want insects!”

Supervisor: “Ummmmm, yep, we do that every day.”

Big Boss: “I see half-eaten food out there right now.”

Supervisor: “It’s 10:30am?????”

Annoyed, the coworker eats the rest of her bar in the most obvious place.

Big Boss: “I’m just saying!”

Big Boss leaves and goes to talk to Mid-level Boss in her office about unrelated things, but with the door open, as is usual around here.

My coworker is annoyed that she’s being chastised for having food during her work day, and for actually working instead of sitting and finishing it all at once. She grabs the protein bar and parks herself right outside the office door, and starts munching away.

Mid-level Boss: “Hi [coworker], do you need something?”

She just wanted them to know.

Coworker: “Nope! Big Boss wanted to ensure all food was eaten by the end of the day, so here I am! Eating!”

Mid-level Boss: …………..

Big Boss: “Ummmmmm I just didn’t want ants…”

Coworker: “No, it’s cool! Food is eaten! I’ll just go back to work now.

Too funny! That was a great way to prove a point.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit have to say about everything that happened here.

It’s actually great advice.

That’s a good question.

For this person, it’s typical of management.

This person agrees with the big boss.

What a silly observation.

Next time, he should find something more important to solve.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.