Seriously I see these posts all the time about people who have a co-worker who steals food so they make gross food to ‘get back at them’ cause HR doesn’t do anything.
Legit question but how do you not just freak out and yell at the person? If a co-worker stole my food the 1st time I’d yell at them and curse them out, the 2nd time I’d threaten to shove the food in their fat face next time I see it happen. If HR didn’t do anything I’d threaten to quit and sue if they claimed I don’t get EI because it’s a toxic work environment.
I just don’t get how people are so passive when co-workers literally steal from them? I’d be fucking livid.
How else are they going to identify middle management prospects?
I agree. It’s theft.
HR should absolutely get involved because it’s going to really affect the working environment. And if you’re hungry as a result, you’re really not going to be doing your best work.
A guy I worked with had his lunch stolen from the freezer one day. He walked around and found the empty container in the trash of a new guy. He was canned that day.
Be wary of such proof.
As a young kid in the 80s, I went to stay for three days at an adventure centre. One barn was converted to house bunk beds and there were about 20 kids of about 11 years old. Everyone else was there for a week and I joined midway, and found it difficult to integrate.
One kid, the only one who had shown me any welcome, had his woolly hat stolen. Another kid suggested searching everyone’s bags for it. There was general resistance, most kids thought he’d lost it somewhere and that never happened.
When I got home the following day and unpacked, I found the hat in my bag. Someone had planted it there, probably the kid who suggested searching bags. Taught me a lot about people, that did.
Never ever been in a place where people take food that isn’t theirs. I cannot even comprehend it. And if it happened more than once I’d keep my food in a backpack at my desk.
Is it yours? If no don’t touch. Simple as that.
I’m with you. They’re literally taking your sustenance. This is way serious.
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The average person wants peace in their life.
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These are the fringes that the malicious operate best.
- Because it’s not really worth the hassle to you.
Most actually don’t want to yell and scream at someone, to escalate a situation, to involve themselves with “authority figures” that do nothing but work preserve the hierarchy around them.
It’s exhausting just to exist while we suffer this way of life. People just gotta pick their battles because we are losing the class war.
- Because they feel safe to antagonize relentlessly.
these malicious actors know the average person wants this peace. They pick and poke ceaselessly like the vultures they are. What are you gonna do about it? Nothing.
Even if you do stand your ground, you will be vilified for putting the front of their face into the back of their skull.
Or if you yell and scream, others will think you’re crazy/dramatic/unreasonable regardless of the circumstances.
Or perhaps you plead uselessly to your indifferent “authority figures” who only exist to exploit you in the most efficient way possible. Utterly toothless. Can you be surprised? We are not free while living like this.
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Because they don’t know what i put in there.
Happened to me too. Didn’t know who it was. I ended up keeping my lunch in my backpack (thermally insulated container), and no one stole my lunch after that.
Sounds like the thief won. Made you change your habits.
What was I supposed to do? HR won’t help, and I sure as hell won’t put laxatives or ghost peppers in the food as a trap for the thief like some people on the internet proclaim to do since this is a potential felony charge. Besides, I get to eat a warm lunch every day without needing to worry about a thief. Good enough for me…
As opposed to continuing to bring the thief food?
I empathize of your outrage. I once worked at a place with 100+ employees and high turnover, and people would steal lunches there. When I first heard about it I was horrified. The reality is that the company doesn’t care, and unless you’re the person whose lunch is being stolen, most co-workers won’t care either – they wouldn’t even know how to help you.
A solution could be as simple as a camera pointed at the fridge, along with firing any thieves. IMO the fact that most places don’t take it seriously is evidence of how little they care about the employees.
I always keep Lunch in my backpack at my desk or eat in a cafeteria. The best way to be chill about a problem is to avoid having the problem.
I mean the real answer to your question is that those posts are all fake because the internet loves stories about revenge on such a small scale they can’t be disproven.
But I want to know what kind of job keeps you by the fridge 24/7 so you can always witness food theft. Most people don’t work in the break room, so they have no way of knowing who to yell at when their food disappears.
I’m guessing that they don’t know who stole the food
I would still make a big deal about it, and demand a solution
So say 100 people work at this company, the other 98 not involved don’t want to listen to you rant and rave either. They might understand, but the more you escalate the less they want to deal with your shit either.
Where I work HR put a big sign on the refrigerator door about not stealing food
Did it help?
It was stolen
Can’t have shit in Detroit
Yall dealing with people stealing food? Ive worked in an office setting for almost 20 years and ive not once ever heard of someone taking someone elses food
There was a night guard who would go around at night and steal food from alle the office break rooms. They installed combination locks on them ans gave the code only to people in the department. When they found the culprit, they fired him. Which is the only sensible thing to do when someone is stealing on the job.
Steal from the company, not from the employees.
Because that’s not how the corporate world works. You want to freak out and yell at them? Go ahead. Maybe they don’t eat someone else’s food for a week. Meanwhile you’ll be hunting for a new job. You threaten another employee? You’ll be lucky to be employed at the end of the day.
Life is a series of tradeoffs. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Tim may steal food, but that doesn’t mean it’s throwing off the status quo. You yell at Tim, you’re upsetting the status quo. So go ahead, and have fun with your pink slip. Hope it was worth it.
Or you can keep your lunch at your desk.
Good lord this makes me happy I’ve not worked in corporate and stayed in blue collar work.
Someone steals food in a shop, that someone’s gonna have a bad day and the boss yells at anyone “whining”, including the guy who got his ass kicked.
That sounds awful all around
Yes, life on earth as per usual. Humans are the problem as usual.
Nah you’re just complacent, old man
Correct, that is another way of putting what I said.
If the choice is:
- Have a stable job, continue paying my bills on time, enjoy the coworkers I do enjoy, continue on with my life -or-
- Have a few seconds of glib satisfaction after yelling at a coworker
I mean, yeah, I’m gonna just keep my lunch at my desk.
The one true way is to find a new job if your coworkers/boss/the job itself is mistreating you.
We did not mistreat you, so don’t take it out on us.
