An office worker turned to the internet for moral support after a dispute with colleagues over cleaning the communal coffee machine sparked a debate about fairness versus shared responsibility.
In a viral post, the employee described their office break room, which serves about 20 people and is equipped with a high-end coffee maker, a stash of mugs, and a dishwasher. The machine requires daily maintenance to prevent milk from curdling overnight, and because the staff tends to leave dirty mugs piling up in the sink, the dishwasher also needs frequent running.
To manage this, the office established a weekly cleaning rotation exclusively for non-managerial staff. While this means the employee is only on duty once every few months, the workload spikes significantly when managers host visitors, resulting in a mountain of mugs to wash. However, the Reddit poster argued that their situation was unique.
“I do not drink coffee,” the employee wrote, noting that their aversion to coffee is well known in the office. They explained that they never use the machine for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or hot water, and they don't use the communal mugs, preferring to bring their own drinks in a personal container.
Because of this, the worker requested to be permanently excused from the rotation. “I find it a bit ridiculous to only touch the coffee machine to clean it,” they wrote, arguing that it is unfair to be responsible for maintaining a machine they will “most likely never” use.
The request caused a rift in the workplace. While some coworkers sided with the employee, others pushed back, arguing that pitching in is simply part of “living in society” and is necessary to “keep the peace.”
The employee, however, saw the objections differently. They suggested their colleagues had “a vested interest in me participating so that they can clean less often,” framing the issue as a matter of principle rather than the effort involved.
“I am aware that this is just a coffee machine, and I’d be cleaning it for just a week every few months,” the poster acknowledged. Despite admitting the burden was light, they maintained that the expectation to clean something they don't use still rubbed them the wrong way.
The comment section on Reddit largely sided with the employee. One top response stated bluntly, “You shouldn’t be cleaning the coffee setup.” The commenter went on to propose that individuals should be responsible for their own mugs and clean the station immediately after use, though they conceded that such a system might be unrealistic to enforce.