Life Matters - Separate stories podcast Ask Aunty: staff kitchen etiquette breach
Jan 1, 2026
Robert Skinner, a columnist renowned for his insights on manners, joins comedian Irvi Majumder for a lively discussion on office kitchen etiquette gone awry. They share hilariously relatable anecdotes, like Robert's horror story of a housemate's moldy porridge and the cultural clashing of hot soup and breakfast traditions. Irvi adds comedic flair as they react to a colleague’s bizarre desk dining habits, including banana peels and pasta eaten with fake nails. Ultimately, they explore ways to tactfully address such gross breaches of etiquette in shared spaces.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Porridge Horror In Shared House
- Robert Skinner described a housemate who stored half-eaten bowls of porridge around her room until they molded and she covered them with glad wrap.
- The image served as a vivid example of how shared-space food habits can become a hygiene and social problem.
Desk Leftovers: Peel And Shell
- Jasmine reported a new colleague who peeled a banana with long fake nails, left the peel between desks, then cracked and peeled a boiled egg and left the shell on the desk most of the day.
- The story illustrates how small personal habits can create ongoing discomfort in open-plan offices.
Nails Used As Utensils
- Jasmine described the colleague stabbing shell pasta with fake nails and removing each shell with her teeth because she didn't bring a fork.
- The behaviour alarmed others at the Friday team lunch and heightened the 'ick' factor for Jasmine.