SAN JOSE, California-

We’ve all seen it happen. It usually occurs around the holiday season when everyone in the office is bringing wonderful food to share with coworkers. When the feasts are all said and done the excess food is put into Tupperware, sealed in Ziplocs, folded up into tinfoil, and piled high and deep into the bowels of the company refrigerators for future consumption. And for the first few days the leftovers are succulent memories of wonderful gatherings with friends and coworkers. But as time goes on leftovers in the work place environment seem to get pushed further and further to the back of the refrigerator where water cooler talk distracts people just enough that it gets forgotten, or everyone always waiting for someone else to take care of it. When this happens, wonderful holiday creations, over weeks, and sometimes months, turn into horrific science projects that no one dares mess with.

When these same meals are made at home, most leftovers are usually eaten or tossed out in a timely manner. Something like this scenario happened in the AT&T building in downtown San Jose, California. But it didn’t happen during the holiday season, but rather in May, and the story is a little better than just extremely old and rotten leftovers.

As the story goes a worker in the building became fed up with the old food in a refrigerator and she decided to clean it. She took the rotten food and moved it into a conference room. It was later discovered that the old meals were in a refrigerator that had been unplugged, and because of it everything had become a moldy mess. She took two types of cleaners and did her best to clean up the mess. The combination of the moldy, rotten food and the cleaners, created such a noxious smell that someone called 911 and a Hazmat (hazardous materials) team was sent to the location. Seven workers had to be taken to the hospital, and 28 others had to be treated for vomiting and nausea at the scene.

It was also reported that Ms. Clean herself was unaffected by the scent cocktail because she had allergies and was unable to smell anything. So does that mean the reason everyone went to the hospital and needed treatment was only in their own heads, created by a sort of mass panic started by one or two sensitive people? After all, if it was a real illness caused by the combination of moldy food and cleaners, wouldn’t it affect someone whether they could smell it or not? I could be wrong, it’s just a passing thought.

The Moral of the story: Isn’t it obvious? Whether it makes you or others sick or not, ALWAYS TAKE HOME OR THROW OUT YOUR LEFTOVERS.

© 2009 StrangeRush.com

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