As Much As It Pains Me . . .

Where I work, we feed our employees lunch every Friday. If we don’t bring something in, we will often barbecue hamburgers, hotdogs, and bratwursts for everyone. Frequently, we will provide ice cream treats as well.

The other day an issue came up that involved some unknown person or persons, hiding ice cream bars in the ice bins of the ice makers—which lead to shredded ice cream bars being dispersed into people’s cups as they went to get ice.

As the human resources manager, I sent the following email to address the problem:

As much as it pains me to send out this email, the issue must be confronted.

Someone has been putting ice cream bars in the ice bins of the automatic ice dispensers in the refrigerators. I am assuming that an overwhelming love of ice cream with a desire to hide away a bar or two for future consumption has been the motivation.

I love ice cream as much, nay if not more, than the next guy or girl. Just ask me about ice cream being at the right temperature for a full bouquet of flavor experience, butter fat content, or the amount of air put into the mixture, ice crystal inhibitors, and binders—I think you get the idea. Nevertheless, hording or hiding ice cream bars in the ice bin doesn’t work on several levels—no matter your love for the creamy confection.

Here is the problem, several times now, people have gone to get ice from the ice dispenser and have ended up with a cup full of shredded ice cream bar, wrapper and all. The hidden ice cream bars have been caught in the dispenser, shredded, and dispensed with the ice. This really isn’t a good thing.

If you are so hooked on ice cream that you need to hide an ice cream bar away for future consumption, perhaps we should talk. Maybe a support group can be formed. In the meantime, stop putting ice cream bars in the ice bins and remember to eat responsibly.

No one ever came forward and confessed. I fear I may have only driven them into the closet, hiding their ice cream eating rather than getting the help they need. The good news however, is that there have been no ice cream bars hidden in the ice makers.