Office: Why do people steal food?

[curiouser]

For the life of me I don't understand why food disappears in offices! I could never imagine talking someone elses food and not asking. I'm not talking about whole lunches, but we tend to keep a lot of snacks around and store them in a communial kitchen. I have "my side" of a cupboard, and put my name on stuff but things still get used/go missing.

I don't get it!!

 

[Pop Daddy]

if anyone leaves a doughnut on ther desk, the temptations is just to great for a mere normal man as myself

 

[piglet too]

I have had several cans of soda go MIA at my work. I had resorted to writing my name all over it with a black sharpie, and coloring the top too, but does not matter. I never leave anything else for fear of having no lunch or snack when I go to get it later that day.

 

[agnes!]

For the life of me I don't understand why food disappears in offices! I could never imagine talking someone elses food and not asking. I'm not talking about whole lunches, but we tend to keep a lot of snacks around and store them in a communial kitchen. I have "my side" of a cupboard, and put my name on stuff but things still get used/go missing.

I don't get it!!

Leave some chocolate pieces in a bag & when the chocolate goes missing make sure you tell everyone how you broght in some Ex-Lax got by mistake .

Or put an alarm on your side of the cabinet.

agnes!

 

[Sleepy]

It's one thing to take a KFC combo to work with you for lunch and have it disappear. It's another thing to take the KFC box to work, go to lunch and find the contents of box to be empty side containers and a pile of stripped bones. It happened to a friend.

 

[agnes!]

I have had several cans of soda go MIA at my work. I had resorted to writing my name all over it with a black sharpie, and coloring the top too, but does not matter. I never leave anything else for fear of having no lunch or snack when I go to get it later that day.

Your mistake is that you colored all over them with a Sharpie. You really should use a watercolor/kid-safe marker so when the can gets wet it comes off all over the thief's hand.

agnes!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

This reminds me of a Friends episode: The One With Ross's Sandwich

"MMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY SANDWICH???!!"

 

[cardaway]

Sometimes it's enough to make you want to make special item just for the thieves.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I had that problem at my old office too. I use fat free, flavored creamer for my coffee. I had my name on it and pls don't use. Didn't matter - one time I brought a brand new creamer in, didn't use it that first am b/c I had one use left of the old creamer. Went to use the new creamer the next am, and it was in there - an empty carton. Someone had to actually open it, take off the safety seal, and use it - even with my name and "pls don't use" on it. One of the many reasons I left that place.

 

[cassi06403]

It really is sad that some people do things like that. I'm glad I work in a small office now where it doesn't happen. But it happened in my last office! Luckily, I brought a cooler bag and kept most of my food under my desk and our department had a mini fridge that got looted far less often than the cafeteria fridge.

I say pull tricks to find out who's doing it! Exlax - hot pepper, etc! These people need to learn a lesson! The worst part about the last office I worked in is that there was a snack vending machine in the same room as the fridge that things would get stolen out of!!! If you're hungry BUY something - don't steal! UGH!!

Thanks for giving me a spot to vent! I hope your things stop disappearing!

 

[aGoofyMom]

In college I was doing a student rotation in a hospital, and suffering a bad cold. I had taken a few drinks of a 1/2 litre of Pepsi, and left it capped in the fridge in our classroom. It was obvious someone had been drinking from it, my classmates all knew it was mine & I really didn't suspect them but, someone took it. EEEWWWW!

Now where I work I leave nothing. We share desk space so I would bring Lysol wipes & leave them in my mail slot. Twice I have been left with one - once with none. In order to get them my co-workers must snoop through stuff in MY space. Annoying to say the least.
If I can't lock it up in my locker, I take it home at the end of every day. It is just not worth the agravation...

 

[DVC Sadie]

I don't know why some people feel the need to steal food or anything else thats not locked down.
I couldn't change jobs due to being in the AF but not only the food was taken out the fridge but people would steal rolls of toilet paper, paper towels and anything else their thieving heart desired.

 

[momsgonwild]

I put a homemade choc pie in the fridge in the teachers lounge for a luncheon we were having that day. I went in during my lunch time to take it out, and it was gone. To this day, nobody has confessed to taking it. Somebody was a pie hog! We have stuff missing out of the lounge all the time. I know these people can afford to buy their own food! We finally put up a sign on the fridge that says, "If you didn't bring it, or buy it, then don't eat it!"

 

[azgal81]

People do that around here to alot I have a cooler bag that I keep in my desk drawer with my lunch in. We also buy snacks/drinks specifically for meetings and even though we put do not use signs all over it people still took some. It got to be so bad that we had to lock the stuff in a cabinet so others don't take it. I don't understand some people why would you want to steal some one elses lunch.

 

[pearlieq]

OK, I'll be the first to admit to having done it.

Usually it was because I was stuck there very late or on the weekend and I was beyond desperate at the time. No one took anyone's lunch or anything, but people had packs of granola bars, crackers, etc. I always replaced what I took or offered money the very next day. No one really had a problem with it in my office, because it happened to all of us and we were good about making it up to the other person.

I can see why you're irked, though. Can you just keep your stuff at your desk?

 

[liamsaunt]

I am lucky in that I only share my fridge with four other people, but my DH has issues all of the time. One day he went to the North End (Boston's italian section), and bought about $40 of things to bring home for our dinner that evening--cheeses, olives, proscuitto, etc. He sealed the bag and put it in the fridge with his name on it. Of course, when he went to retrieve it someone had taken it. Believe me when I say the people in his office are not in a financial position that they would need to take this food. GRR!!!

 

[curiouser]

OK, I'll be the first to admit to having done it.

Usually it was because I was stuck there very late or on the weekend and I was beyond desperate at the time. No one took anyone's lunch or anything, but people had packs of granola bars, crackers, etc. I always replaced what I took or offered money the very next day. No one really had a problem with it in my office, because it happened to all of us and we were good about making it up to the other person.

I can see why you're irked, though. Can you just keep your stuff at your desk?

I can totally understand that, and I'd have no issue if someone came to me and said "I totally needed X.." I'll replace it. I'd tell them no need!

The latest, rather amusing event, is someone took one of my snacks and threw away the wrapper in the bathroom trash, almost as if so I wouldn't find it!

 

[ead79]

This used to happen a lot at my old company. Some people always tried to blame it on the cleaning crew, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it was not the cleaners.

The grossest thieving incident happened to a co-worker there. She had brought in two slices of pizza from home in a tupperware container. The container wasn't see-through, so someone had apparently gone through all of them until they found something that looked good. The thief took a big bite out of one of the slices, then put both slices back in the tupperware and sealed it back up. Needless to say, she didn't eat that pizza!

 

[cassi06403]

Anyone have any stories of these people ever being caught or learning a lesson? I'd think they'd have to have been caught at least once!

 

[crazee4mickey]

Food goes missing in our school staffroom all the time--out of people's lunches, food brought in for classroom treats, also things like chocolate bars that have been brought in by kids for fundraising!
Everyone knows who it is, this person will stand at the fridge and just look over everyone's food to see what he can eat (and believe me this person has an unbelievably huge lunch packed for himself!)
I personally consider it stealing, but the administration (who is best buds with him) won't say anything to the teacher yet he walks around constantly eating in the hall. Staff have said things to him but no one sees him do it so he just smiles and walks away.
What it boils down to is pure, selfish gluttony by an arrogant co-worker...its disgusting!