Caution: Contents may be cold

Mapmug2, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

In what an only be described as a Water Cooler Conversation (because it actually took place while I was getting some cold water) one of my Managers revealed yesterday that she is unable to drink cold liquids from a mug. For her mugs can only be for hot drinks, and anything cold must be from a glass. Although she is fine with a Latte or posh hot chocolate in a glass "with a handle". This was not something I have ever considered might be a problem before. If I am thirsty, I'll happily drink from whatever container is to hand. As it happens, I tend to use mugs for cold drinks at work because (a) I normally bring my own mug in with me, use it throughout the day and take it home again for washing up I trust. I will admit to a slight issue with the communal cups and glasses here even though I know they are properly dealt with in a dishwasher rather than just being indifferently rinsed and put away as I have seen elsewhere. And (b) I don't consume tea or coffee anyway but we have a stack of mugs at home that would never otherwise get used if I didn;t cart them back and forth to the office.

Since then I have been trying to think of any other utensil "phobias" I might have, and just can't identify any. I'll slurp soup from a desert spoon if that's all there is, drink straight from a can/bottle or use a straw, happily use a wooden or plastic disposable chip fork or use my fingers when sitting on the sea front with a portion and don't insist on pre-packed sandwiches being decanted onto a plate before consumption. Anybody out there got any food consumption problems they'd like to share?

Splash! Drip, drip, drip...

So there I am, packing up to leave work tonight, waiting for the PC to shut down etc I grabbed my mug in haste, only to shower my lap and chair with unexpectedly undrunk water. You'd think I'd remember whether I'd finished or not. Luckily it was still quite sunny, so by the time my bus turned up it no longer looked like I'd wet myself on the way. But the ride down in the lift and walk to the bus stop was just a tad embarrassing.

Mind you, that wasn't the dampest I've left the building, having once fallen in the water feature in the cafeteria. That was a real day to forget, and yet somehow I haven't managed to. I have also been soaked by a truck driving through a passing puddle whilst changing a timetable by the roadside. Hopefully that makes my three work-related drenchings and I can live out the rest of my Council life in comfortable dryness.