No I am not a drug addict that has recently gone ‘cold turkey’. Just to make that nice and clear thought I’d state it first and foremost.
One thing that made me fall in love with GSK when I started my placement was the vending machines scattered around each building which serve free drinks. Hot chocolate, coffee, green tea, orange juice, caffe mocha, cappuccino, and the list goes on. No beers, spirits wines etc I’m afraid for any drinkers out there! If you never noticed in the sentence before last, I did say free. At first I thought there must be some sort of cache, I mean with over 2000 employees given unrestricted access to the machines (no log in to spot any addicts or limited cups with a first come first serve basis), just imagine how many drinks are consumed in a year. Forget a year; think about a week across the Stevenage site. This includes confused chemists, tired technicians and befuddled biologists who drown their worries about their never ending to do lists in countless cups of free drinks.
Another industrial placement student was recently telling me how she struggles to work for a day without regular cups of coffee which have gradually become stronger. At GSK it’s great for her then that the machines are so close by and are topped up frequently but it got me thinking, is it really a beneficial habit to get into for the long run? I know countless people rely on a cup of tea or coffee in the morning to help them become alert and ready for the day and I myself have drank copious amounts of coffee during university exam periods. But if the more generous drinkers among us were to cut down on their intake, how would it affect their performance?
Just something to think about. You never know, maybe there will be a sudden dramatic decrease in coffee around the world! What will you do then?
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I agree. People long time ago was able to do work even when coffee was still not around. I think it is just aa state of mind and later on, the body will ask for more because it got accustomed to the smell and taste.
Yes absolutely! Coffee has not been around forever (although whether our predecessors worked as effectively as us is another question), and I think its just a routine people have fallen into with the mentality of it being necessary. I read this article on the BBC recently about the origins of coffee – have a read, you may be surprised! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22190802