A story about a missing lunch of shrimp fried rice that is captivating social media is shedding light on an often overlooked but highly contentious aspect of office politics: fridge etiquette.

Eddy Ng, a professor at Dalhousie Universitysa国际传媒檚 Rowe School of Business, says interactions around the office refrigerator sa国际传媒� replete with passive aggressive Post-It notes and decomposing leftovers sa国际传媒� reveal human behaviour in the workplace.

He says the shared fridge is a microcosm of office dynamics, serving to accentuate interpersonal skills, communication styles and personality types.

Itsa国际传媒檚 also the scene for a comical tale about stolen shrimp fried rice that has gripped social media for days and spurred an online exchange of woes from cubicle-land.

Zak Toscani, a writer and stand-up comedian from Los Angeles, took to Twitter last week after his co-workersa国际传媒檚 lunch was stolen.

Co-worker got his lunch stolen and theysa国际传媒檝e agreed to let him watch the security camera tape. This is the most excited Isa国际传媒檝e ever been at any job ever. Ever.

sa国际传媒� Zak Toscani (@zaktoscani)

He joked that the missing food was shrimp fried rice, escalating the crime from a misdemeanour to a felony, and mused that it was a sa国际传媒減rofessional hit no doubtsa国际传媒� due to the lack of a shrimp smell in the microwave or kitchen.

Toscani said his hungry co-worker asked to view security footage of the communal fridge, and detailed to his online followers how the investigation unfolded.

His sensational account of the office drama sa国际传媒� he quipped that it was the most excited hesa国际传媒檇 ever been sa国际传媒渁t any job eversa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes and re-tweets.

The workplace spat appears to have hit a nerve among workers affected by the seemingly unscrupulous actions of self-appointed fridge police.

The Canadian Press

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