What would you do?

ASPCA4EVER

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Dear Prudence:
I work for a very large company, and on our floor, we all share a refrigerator in the kitchen. Over the course of several months now, many of us have had food taken, sometimes directly from our lunchboxes. It's usually stuff like a sandwich, yogurt, chips, or cookies, but I've had my entire lunch stolen. Numerous e-mails have been sent and signs posted on the fridge, all to no avail. Then one of my co-workers caught the bandit in the act while the bandit had no idea she was being seen. The thief happens to be not only a co-worker but a very good friend whom I spend a lot of time with away from work. She is a high-level financial executive and makes an excellent salary, so it's not like she is starving. We are all stunned, and I don't know how to handle this.
http://www.slate.com/id/2237217/?GT1=38001 {no peaking}

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Something to cuss & discuss besides the right or wrong of Presidents Obama's Policies! There are no wrong answers but I'll let it run awhile and then post what the "DEAR PRUDANCE-Said"!
 
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I'd be curious to know what her response was when caught. Personally I'd stop spending time with her. If she steals lunches she probably steals other things. She may be a kleptomaniac or even a sociopath.

I once had my lunch stolen when I worked in a factory years ago. I'm pretty sure it was a poor hispanic that couldn't afford lunch so i was able to live with it.
 
Here's what Prudie suggested:
The good news, at least as far as you know, is that she's embezzling only co-workers' Cheetos and not company cash. However, her urge to forage for food as if she's a squirrel storing nuts for the winter is sadly more than a little nutty. It's juicy that the person pilfering from every one's lunchboxes is a high-ranking executive, and gossip like that can't be contained. You're right, hunger or poverty are not the reasons why she is jeopardizing her reputation, and possibly harming her career, for some one's package of Chips Ahoy! Just tell her directly that she's been spotted taking other people's food and that the word is spreading in the office. Explain that this just doesn't seem like her, and hear what she says. You don't say that she otherwise seems off, but if this has become a compulsion, it could indicate that she has either a new, or previously controlled, mental disorder. If she dismisses it as just a random incident of being ravenous and borrowing a cookie, then say that for months people's food has been disappearing, and she's been tagged as the culprit. Acknowledge that while the whole thing ultimately seems a little silly, if she somehow feels she can't stop, she should get help before she hurts her standing in the company.
—Prudie

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Mirror> that happened to me too and I just started packing an extra brown bag with the duplicate sandwich in the sack...one I placed towards the front of the refrigerator in plain sight the other I put under several others so that it wasn't as noticeable too.

Pocket>loved that idea and if I wasn't afraid that it would cause some heinous accident to someone that was in need...that would have been the best idea ever!
 
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Re: What would you do? #2

Dear Prudence,
My boyfriend and I are a couple of years out of college and doing very well. We make a sizable income and have a beautiful home. Many of our friends are not as fortunate—between the economy and less career ambition, there is a clear financial divide. We do activities within our friends' budgets and save expensive meals or events for just the two of us. My problem is that we have a housekeeper who comes every month, but her work is not good. Without checking with me, my boyfriend offered the job to two of our friends who have the time to clean and need the money. They are excited for the opportunity and extra cash. I think money and friends don't mix, and it's potentially disastrous. My boyfriend says it's my call. I feel awkward trying to back out of this, but I want to do the right thing.

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Quite the sticky-wicket...allowing 'friends' into your abode with all of the good intentions of doing your house cleaning? Have they ever done that as a business before, or they insured/bonded, trust worthy/reliable...hmmm?
 
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