"The Prisoner's Meal Is Better"... Office Workers' Sighs as Cafeteria Opens

An office worker posted a photo of the cafeteria menu, and netizens sighed, saying it was "worse than prison food." On the 4th, an online community posted a message saying, "The company meals are just too bad. I borrowed this photo as an example, but we have to eat meals like this every day." The photo showed a meal consisting only of rice, broth with ingredients, kimchi, and rolled omelet as three side dishes.

[Image source=Online Community]

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The author, Mr. A, explained the company atmosphere, saying, "It's a group with strict discipline, so we can't even bring lunch boxes from home," and added, "We have to quickly eat with seniors, brush our teeth, and get back to work. If I bring something delicious from home in front of seniors, it would obviously look like I'm showing off alone. There's no time to eat outside, and no one goes out to eat."

Mr. A also said there were times when only noodles and kimchi were served without other side dishes, adding, "I work to eat, but I feel depressed every day, and I get off work around 7 to 8 p.m., so I can't exercise. I wake up at 5 a.m. and wait for the weekend to eat things like spicy stir-fried pork or sweet and sour pork. Should I quit?"

Among netizens who read the story, sympathetic responses continued, such as "If I were the person involved, I would quit without looking back," and "I work on the strength of food, but I don't think I could get energy from this." Some even compared the meals to prison food, saying, "They eat worse than Yoo Young-chul and Kang Ho-soon," and "Even prisoners in detention centers don't eat like this. Please change jobs quickly."

The menu of Seoul Nambu Prison released in 2014, not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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Recently, the menu of the Seoul Detention Center, where death row inmates were transferred to one place, was revealed, sparking controversy as a "luxury menu." On New Year's Day, January 1st, the lunch at Seoul Detention Center included black rice, soybean paste stew, pork gochujang bulgogi, marinated greens, napa cabbage kimchi, and yu-gwa (traditional Korean sweets). At that time, netizens also showed angry reactions, saying, "They get better meals than the cafeteria," and "They eat better than people living alone."

Previously, in office worker communities, the poor quality of menus provided in police and military cafeterias surfaced, leading to a huge reaction comparing them to the Seoul Detention Center menu. Due to the rapid rise in prices and tightening budgets, people have been comparing their meals to those of prisoners, and the self-deprecating phrase "worse than prison food" has spread like a trend.

According to Statistics Korea, last year, the processed food price index, a representative indicator of food prices, rose by 6.8%, which is 1.9 times the overall inflation rate of 3.6%. The dining-out price index also rose by 6.0%, 1.7 times higher, showing that the burden of food prices increased significantly compared to other items.

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