‘Pantry Queen’ coworker screams and cries at colleagues for leaving the office ice cube tray empty: ‘[She] stormed out of the pantry’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Dec 6, 2025 10:00 PM EST

We all have that one coworker (and it's not the office manager) who tries to run their workplace like the Navy. No, Stacy, you don't have full rein over the soap choices in the communal bathroom. Hey, Andrew, the office pantry is not the place to take out your at-home frustrations on—the same sentiment applies to your coworkers, too.

Each workplace has someone like this. This specific colleague might not be as abrasive as the colleague in the story below, but they come pretty dang close. Why do folks think they're entitled to treat their coworkers like kindergartners? Then, they come to realize that they're the ones who are actually acting like the children they believe exist around them. It doesn't make any sense… But, then again, in their minds, they don't need to make sense. They just need to scream, and scream loudly.

The narrator in the next story describes their colleague as the "Pantry Queen". This colleague visits the office pantry at least eight times per shift, and she admits that she needs to be in the pantry for at least 15 minutes, too. Well, this pantry-centric colleague loses it when their picture-perfect setting—the pantry, of course—is tainted: Someone forgot to fill the ice cube tray. All heck breaks loose. Scroll to read.

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  • 01
    woman employee yelling at another colleague
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    "Coworker had a breakdown over an empty ice tray in the pantry fridge"

    Let's call her R. R works at the dispatching desk and has a nickname - Pantry Queen.
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 03
    Over the course of an 8-hour shift, she needed to visit the pantry at least 8 times, and according to the people in her team, every pantry visit is at least 15 mins long.
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  • 04
    The dispatching office is a very busy office and if you needed to leave your desk, you have to get someone to cover you.
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  • 05
    People practice give and take, cover someone now, then later that someone will cover them. If the shift starts at 2pm, R will come in on-the-dot at 2pm (others usually come in 10 mins early to handover because, well, you give and take).
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 06
    She'll put her bag and head straight to the pantry to make boba (bubble tea). 15-20 mins later she'll emerge from the pantry nagging that someone had emptied the ice tray without filling it, and then takes over from the poor guy who has to wait for her.
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 07
    Less than 30 mins later, she finishes her first 1.51 / 50oz cup of boba and goes to the pantry, emerging 15 mins later with something else to eat.
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  • 08
    Then that cycle alternates between food and boba or soda until 15-20 mins before end of shift where she'll head to the pantry again to wash her dishes.
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  • 09
    And if you are that poor guy sitting next to her (hot desk), no matter how busy you are, as soon as its her time to go to the pantry, she'll forcefully handover the workstation controls to you and leave for the pantry.
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  • 10
    Someone once confronted her about this and she then spent the entire week complaining that her coworkers were unhelpful, not being team-player.
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  • 11
    She then went to see the manager, cried in his office for 3 hours,, and got a transfer to a different team.
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  • 12
    We have staggered lunch/dinner breaks and most of the time people eat at their desks. R would go to every person's desk, she what they're eating, and start commenting.
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 13
    "Is this serving enough for you? That's so little food!" "Don't you think that's too much meat?" "Why do you always eat salad?
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  • 14
    That's over healthy!" And yeah, her work performance is quite mediocre. She has been with the company for 5 years and always lamented people did not respect her as a senior.
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  • 15
    In reality, she was transferred from another department after that department was disbanded and since this is a government corporation, they can't retrench her without a damning good reason.
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  • 16
    One fine day, she was recalled from her Standby roster (you stay at home on Standby but may be recalled if needed).
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  • 17
    She dumped her bag on the desk, went to the pantry as usual, and stormed out of the pantry screaming "WHY IS THE ICE TRAY EMPTY AGAIN?!
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 18
    pink and white ice cubes in an ice cube tray
    via RYNA studio for Unsplash
  • 19
    HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YA'LL, DON'T LEAVE THE ICE TRAY EMPTY!!!". Then she sat on her desk and started crying.
    via earth_wanderer1235
  • 20
    Once she stopped complaining about the ice tray, she cried again complaining why do people not like her, and then when she's done, she cried again saying she has been in the company for 5 years, nobody respected her as a senior, and she was not given a promotion.
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  • 21
    Needless to say, she didn't do any work that day and the poor people in the team quietly split her work.
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  • 22
    And it was a particularly busy day.
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terrible coworkers employee reddit story workplace food entitled people
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