# Personal diary found and read by co-worker **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464 "2017-07-17T04:57:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/21 "2017-07-17T17:22:16Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, it’s not. There is no reason to have a “Personal Health Journal” in a so-called professional environment. Keep it at home, where it belongs. Again, ridiculous. There’s as much reason for you to have it with you as there is to carry any personal health-related stuff, such as prescription medicines, or any material from your doctor, like test results, written prescriptions, or health pamphlets. Or indeed any other personal stuff, like your tax returns or bank statements or utility bills. Or your phone with all its contact information. They are part of your life and it’s perfectly legitimate for you to have them with you. You might need them before work or after work or need to take them to your next destination. Or use them during your break. Or maybe you have an appointment during the day. “Professional” does not mean that you are a drone without any signs of a personal life when you enter the building. It means you treat your colleagues with respect and do your job conscientiously. “Professional” also means you give your colleagues their own space for their personal stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/22 "2017-07-17T17:31:51Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > There is no reason to have a “Personal Health Journal” in a so-called professional environment. Keep it at home, where it belongs. Where did you come up with the notion that it belongs at home? The whole point is to record emotions and stress (read the OP), and – spoiler alert – many (most? all?) people experience stresses and related emotions at their jobs. It belongs _ **WITH THE OP** _, wherever and whenever s/he may be. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/23 "2017-07-17T17:51:22Z")
Labeling anything “personal” or “private” or “top secret” is like catnip for busybodies, and there are a lot of them everywhere. The first thing to do is never leave anything personal like this lying around if you don’t want some busybody to see it. But, as it’s happened already, probably the best thing is to act like it didn’t happen. Anything you do will draw more attention to it and make more people curious (see “Streisand effect”). And pretty soon it will be like it never happened. Of course you have a right to be angry and upset. Your emotions are up to you. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/24 "2017-07-17T18:03:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Again, ridiculous. There’s as much reason for you to have it with you as there is to carry any personal health-related stuff, such as prescription medicines, or any material from your doctor, like test results, written prescriptions, or health pamphlets. Again, ridiculous. One should keep that shit to himself, in his purse, briefcase, or satchel, not laying around the workspace. Should I bring my blood pressure monitor to the office, and post the readings on the bulletin board? Or line up my prescription bottles in a row on the little shelf in my cubicle? Heck, if I do need to talk to the Doctor’s office, I find a vacant conference room, and make the call from there. It’s called privacy. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/25 "2017-07-17T18:10:51Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > One should keep that shit to himself, in his purse, briefcase, or satchel, not laying around the workspace. I agree, and I think that’s reasonable, where I don’t think keeping it at home is in this case ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/26 "2017-07-17T18:14:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > How did the co-worker come across the diary? Where was it? Could he or she have just left it in place for you to find when you returned?.. **Vanilla Ice** , you joined to tell us this story, but then left. Without answering this really basic question. It makes a huge difference. People are assuming that someone went through your things in your office (which makes your coworker look like a snoop and a liar): > [@filmore](#): > > Assuming it was on your desk, the coworker was snooping regardless of her lying excuse that she was putting back a loose piece of paper… > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I take it that the book was in your work space or otherwise identifiable as yours? In other words, if I found a book marked “Personal Health Journal” but no name in a bathroom stall, I might open it… But if it was in a public area, like a cafeteria or bathroom, then it’s less intrusive and at least understandabl… wait a minute. How did you know what was read and what wasn’t? This is another important question. You wrote “she had gone to put it back in place, but ended up reading some.” How could you tell? Why “she”? Do you know who it is? Did your boss reveal that? Why? And why “some”, and not all? ---
**Author:** ![kivvik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cdc98d/32.png) [@kivvik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kivvik)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/27 "2017-07-17T18:51:41Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Again, ridiculous. One should keep that shit to himself, in his purse, briefcase, or satchel, not laying around the workspace. > > Should I bring my blood pressure monitor to the office, and post the readings on the bulletin board? Or line up my prescription bottles in a row on the little shelf in my cubicle? Heck, if I do need to talk to the Doctor’s office, I find a vacant conference room, and make the call from there. > > It’s called privacy. They were trying to keep it to themselves; that’s why they said they left it at work by MISTAKE. They need it at work to document emotional responses that occur there, as per their doctor, and simply messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/28 "2017-07-17T18:59:44Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Again, ridiculous. One should keep that shit to himself, in his purse, briefcase, or satchel, not laying around the workspace. > > Should I bring my blood pressure monitor to the office, and post the readings on the bulletin board? Or line up my prescription bottles in a row on the little shelf in my cubicle? Heck, if I do need to talk to the Doctor’s office, I find a vacant conference room, and make the call from there. > > It’s called privacy. Privacy is a two-way street. You take reasonable steps and your co-workers mind their own business. But where do you get the idea that he did anything comparable to posting his blood pressure on the bulletin board? If it was in his cubicle, if he had a cubicle, then that IS a personal space where he can reasonably expect his co-workers not to snoop, and certainly not take things from. But why would you assume that any of this is what happened? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/29 "2017-07-17T18:59:57Z")
We should probably move past the details about personal property at work. It seems like the discussion is moving towards a situation like where you leave a $100 bill on your desk vs in your backpack. In both cases the money _should_ remain untouched, but in reality it will likely get stolen off the desk but generally left alone in the backpack. VanillaIce, we hope you come back and tell us more about your situation. Hopefully we can offer advice to help you get through it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/30 "2017-07-17T19:07:33Z")
It seems the OP has been on the Dope website for over 30 minutes now (green dot). Don’t know what to make of that. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/31 "2017-07-17T19:19:17Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > How do you know your co-worker read it? Maybe there were cookie crumbs between all the pages; _cookies of a type that the op doesn’t like because they have raisins or something!_ ---
**Author:** ![Vanilla\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/76d3ee/32.png) [@Vanilla\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vanilla_Ice)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/32 "2017-07-17T21:09:30Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Maybe there were cookie crumbs between all the pages; _cookies of a type that the op doesn’t like because they have raisins or something!_ Ha!! 😃 THAT’S funny. Just saw all the comments now. Thanks to all for replying. I really appreciate the different opinions, and just having a chance to vent. Sent from my LG-M151 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/33 "2017-07-17T21:42:17Z")
Ex attempted to read my journal. Caught her and so I wound up leaving it locked up in a safe (not easily pickable either) out in the open. She was so tempted to read it, I made sure I told her “the key is in a very obvious place, i’m going to trust you this time” even though it wasn’t, so when she was at my place, it would drive her insane trying to find it. Fitting punishment. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/34 "2017-07-17T22:03:37Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > Ex attempted to read my journal. Caught her and so I wound up leaving it locked up in a safe (not easily pickable either) out in the open. She was so tempted to read it, I made sure I told her “the key is in a very obvious place, i’m going to trust you this time” even though it wasn’t, so when she was at my place, it would drive her insane trying to find it. Fitting punishment. Diabolical! So glad to read that she’s an Ex. If it were your wife, I’d say she, well, you both, have problems. So, Vanilla Ice lurked then posted and still didn’t tell us where he left the diary… or how he knew what was read. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/35 "2017-07-17T22:15:10Z")
What happened to common sense? I’d have emailed my coworker telling him I found a “Personal Health Journal” with his name on it (on the copier/in the breakroom, etc). I could either put it on his desk in a sealed manila envelope, or lock it up until I saw him again, so what would be his preference. Never in a million years would I have given it to the person’s supervisor. And I’m perplexed why the supervisor gave it to the big boss. WTF? It’s not like it was an illegal drug or something that required HR’s involvement. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/36 "2017-07-17T22:53:38Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Diabolical! So glad to read that she’s an Ex. If it were your wife, I’d say she, well, you both, have problems. > > So, Vanilla Ice lurked then posted and still didn’t tell us where he left the diary… or how he knew what was read. Heh, yeah… it came to me out of nowhere. She was wife material for sure, actually a good person, but her curiosity got the best of her… I broke it off a year later when she started drinking every afternoon through the night and completely turned. Can’t be among alcoholics even though I was bordering on being one many years ago. I am totally waiting for Vanilla\_Ice’s response as eagerly as my ex wanted to read my journal… I really want to know what was read that is so infuriating… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/37 "2017-07-18T02:46:58Z")
Y’know, if someone found _my_ personal health journal, they might get the wrong idea: THURS 13 JULY Melinda from Marketing did the giggly fake laugh over lunch (12:15) – For the last time – She is hereby marked for painful death this afternoon – Before she leaves for the day, she takes her scrap paper to the recycling bin in the copier room that’s under construction (16:40-16:50) A noose made to look like a random loop of extension cord could descend from the rafters and snare her neck from behind (16:55) THURS 13 JULY Practice shocked face in mirror (19:15-19:45) FRI 14 JULY Post utterly normal comment to Melinda’s facebook page (07:15) – “Gee, Melinda, it’ll be good to see you again at the office later this morning. Sure is great that we get along no less but also no more than two typical coworkers.” FRI 14 JULY Leave work early with tummy ache (11:15) – stop by comic book shop --pick up _Harley Quinn_ – Issue 1 – _Betty and Veronica_ – Issue 320 Remember to check these off on Master List on living room whiteboard! (no later than 12:45) ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/38 "2017-07-18T05:57:03Z")
“At first I did not know it was your diary. I thought it was a very sad handwritten book.” [/rebel wilson] ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/39 "2017-07-19T23:11:09Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Again, ridiculous. One should keep that shit to himself, in his purse, briefcase, or satchel, not laying around the workspace. > > Should I bring my blood pressure monitor to the office, and post the readings on the bulletin board? Or line up my prescription bottles in a row on the little shelf in my cubicle? Heck, if I do need to talk to the Doctor’s office, I find a vacant conference room, and make the call from there. > > It’s called privacy. Posting the readings on a bulletin board is not the same as keeping them in a journal. I keep my BP readings in my smartphone and in my office we all leave our phones lying around our desks from time to time. None of us would think that “because it’s a professional office” that it’s okay to snoop. Similarly, some of us, such as a co-worker of mine, have to have medication at work. Are you saying it’s okay for the rest of us to snoop through his office? And if a co-worker brought a BP monitor to work, so what? I hate to say this but, come on, get serious! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464/40 "2017-07-20T04:30:40Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Assuming it was on your desk, the coworker was snooping regardless of her lying excuse that she was putting back a loose piece of paper. Wait, you _bring your own desk_ to work? Agree that other employees have no damn business snooping. Agree that if your diary is private, you should keep it at home. Astonishing lack of professionalism on both sides. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-diary-found-and-read-by-co-worker/791464.md?page=3)