'You'll lose the game': British chap tricks their coworker into following basic etiquette

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Aug 6, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

I won't pretend to be an expert on the nuances of British culture, but it shouldn't stand as a surprise to anyone that etiquette is strict when it comes to the manner of tea preparation in the office. You might expect that to be just a stereotype, but it appears to be very much real. (Are any British folk able to corroborate this?)

And that's the most important piece of information you need to know going into this story—tea is a serious matter. But, really, the themes of this story should be familiar to anyone who has had to endure a rude coworker who can't obey simple social decorum and—well… we've all probably had to deal with that person at some point.

This worker shared how they managed to trick their inconsiderate coworker into making tea for the team by "gamifying" the task for them, creating a points system based on whoever made the most rounds of tea. This got the coworker so stoked about making tea that they were determined to make the most tea and "win" the game—really, but all their coworkers were winners due to the existence of more tea.