Petty workplace rules
Scott asked listeners for the smallest and most irritating rules they had encountered at work.
One employee had to return an empty pen before receiving a replacement or pay 10p.
Another workplace had two microwaves: a basic model for ordinary staff, which they had to clean themselves, and a more advanced one reserved for the managing director and cleaned daily.
One company decided employees could not listen to radio on their laptops but could use their phones connected to the same workplace Wi-Fi.
A manager convened a meeting to decide whether mug soup counted as a drink or a meal. The conclusion was that soup without croutons could be consumed at a desk, while soup containing croutons had to be eaten in the kitchen.
Other rules involved charging staff for using an isolated company car park and timing how long employees took to answer every email.
The smart-speaker rewind
The previous day’s smart-speaker discussion continued.
Listeners tested the BBC Sounds rewind command and sent examples of the precise, unusually formal voices they used to make devices understand them.
Scott said the voice resembled the old “telephone voice” people once used when making formal calls.
The Birthday Game: Andy
Andy from Knutsford turned 49 and worked as a sculptor.
His work included animals such as squirrels, foxes, owls and eagles, along with benches and other public pieces around the area.
Andy planned breakfast with his wife and children, an evening meal and a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show.
He shared his birthday with Joan Collins, Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade.
Andy loved live music and particularly enjoyed Peter Hook’s DJ sets filled with 1990s dance records.
His first spin was Wizzard’s See My Baby Jive. Andy rejected it immediately.
The second was Duran Duran’s The Reflex. Although he had made a homemade video for the song with friends when he was about ten, he chose to gamble again.
His compulsory final spin was Olive’s You’re Not Alone, number one in 1997.
Andy accepted it as exactly the kind of 1990s dance record he had requested.
A regular workplace feature
The response to the office topic was so large that Scott considered turning petty workplace rules into a recurring feature.
Listeners continued sending examples throughout the show and into the rest of the week.
Handover
Scott handed over to Sara Cox after promising a larger smart-speaker experiment the following afternoon.
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