I’ve noticed a similar thing plays out in tech company offices with bananas. If you wait for a banana to actually get ripe someone else will have already eaten it.
That's what I do, at least. I guess I'm part of the problem.
I cannot do this thing, as I don't open my desk drawer very often, and a banana is exactly the sort of the sort of thing I would forget about. I'm thinking through how this would play out for me, and it's unpleasant for all involved.
"Do you want ants?! Because that's how you get ants!" — Archer