☕ Pantry Chronicles — After Me Time (Modelled, Not Mandated)

Kettle-side chatter after the Director took a week of Me Time to model rest. Real actions, real calendars, real respect—here’s what people actually noticed.

Veteran (quiet): “She’s been telling us to take Me Time for months. Nobody booked it.”
Optimist: “Her all-staff went out at 8:31—short and clear, with the HR portal link (Leave → Wellbeing → Me Time). No slogans.”
Manager (scrolling): “And a one-liner to leaders: approve within 24 hours unless there’s a P1 incident.”
Productivity (checking calendar): “Outlook invites flipped to 25/50-minute defaults. Doors actually opened at :55.”
Body Relations (rolling shoulders): “She put walking 1:1s back on the map—literally. Shaded route attached.”
Nourishment (filling jug): "Facilities organised water jugs and pinned a Mon/Wed top-up roster by the sink."
Timekeeper: “The 9:00 ran 30 minutes and ended at 9:25. No heroic overruns. Felt… adult.”
OCI Friend: “Policy never blocked rest. Culture just never did it. We’re drafting a two-paragraph guideline: checklist, no poetry.”
Quiet Genius (printing): “Her out-of-office said, ‘Back Monday. Please take yours.’ Before she left we did a 10-minute coverage check: who owns the inbox, who’s backup, and what counts as a true escalation.”
New Hire (wide-eyed): “She asked my leave balance and said, ‘Pick a day now, not when it’s quiet.’ I actually booked it.”
HR (passing by with forms): “By lunch we’d logged six Me Time requests. More sitting in drafts.”
Sceptic (softening): “I expected posters. We got process. Hard to argue with doors opening on time.”
Facilities (crating glasses): “Extra tumblers to meeting rooms. Hydration is back in fashion.”
Veteran (nods): “Respect does that. She models it; everyone breathes.”

Warm insight: Modelling beats messaging—she didn’t change the policy; she changed the example.