Waking Up to the Smell of Burnt Toast

the wiring in my work’s break room is bad. in one power strip we have plugged in a microwave, water dispenser, toaster oven, coffee grinder and coffee maker. the power strip is constantly flickering. two of the remaining walls each have a large fridge plugged in. at any given time the whole room can crash. we can’t have the microwave and the toaster oven going at the same time otherwise the circut breaker breaks and it means cold meals for all.

the toaster oven may be the most used but the most neglected appliance up in there. it’s tiny. it hasn’t been cleaned ever. if it weren’t for the extreme temperatures some sort of life would be breeding in there by now.

also, if we don’t keep an eye on it, it’ll magically turn food into charcoal. one day a 2 minute toast is fine. the next day, briquettes anyone? if burning your food isn’t bad enough, the smell spreads throughout the entire office. so everyone knows your bagel’s now toast (bad joke bad). we end up with fans running all day so the smell doesn’t get to the lobby. the smell of burning bread is not an image we want to project to our clients. not unless we're selling campires, bbq, or some sort of trash buring service.

oddly though, no matter how strong the smell gets or how smokey the room becomes the fire alarm never sounds...i'm so glad i sit steps away from the lobby doors.