Drink your mouse tea

A friend of mine lived in an apartment with a shared kettle. One day, a roommate remarked that their morning tea tasted weird. It was like the water had been in an old closet; mouldy, dusty, and not too fresh.

After a short discussion, they realised it had tasted strange for a couple of weeks.

They checked the tea bags, but they seemed fine. They then checked the electric kettle and — to their horror — found a mummified mouse stuck in the heating element at the bottom of the kettle.

For two weeks.

As far as I know, nobody got sick (except maybe afterward when they realised what they’d been drinking), which makes sense because, as the mouse was thoroughly boiled, any bacteria or viruses were eliminated.

I can’t say for sure, but I'm going to assume the thought of drinking mouse tea doesn't appeal to most of you. But how about a few rodent hairs? How much mouse fur is acceptable in your tea before you find it disgusting?

You might think rodent hair in your food is totally unacceptable whatever the case — but you’d be wrong.

Technically at least.

Producing food without some insects or rodent hair slipping in is both impractical and borderline impossible. Because of this, there are rules that food producers must follow.

For example, there can be 450 insect parts and nine rodent hairs in every 16 ounce box of spaghetti. For every 5 ounce can of mushrooms, there can be an average of 20 or more maggots of any size. A teaspoon of black pepper can legally contain 40 insect fragments and a smidgen of rodent hair.

No matter what you eat or drink, you’re likely consuming rodent hair and insect parts with every meal.

And that’s fine.

Unlike the boiled mouse in the electric kettle, we don't mind these food defects, as they're not hazardous or even detectable.

And here’s the moral of my disgusting story: we can take a lot of shit in small doses, as long as we're not too aware of it.

You'll never eat completely clean food, and none of your projects will ever be conflict and trouble-free.

Every company has its equivalent of a mouse in the electric kettle, and every manager has to deal with tension, imperfection, and trouble in small doses. Sometimes it’s better not to overthink these things and just get on with it.

So my advice is to close this window and never think about this story again — it’s as good time as any to make yourself a nice cup of tea.