# Refrigerator thieves at the Office - Why? Whats up with that? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995 "2012-02-25T20:25:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/21 "2012-02-26T16:21:51Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > Had it done to me, and done it myself - no biggie. If somebody is working late and finds some of my food in there, their welcome to go ahead - and I’ll do ditto. Of all the problems in the world I think a little “borrowing” of foodstuff in the workplace is a minor thing. > > It all evens out in the end 🙂 The only way this philosophy would work is if it was discussed beforehand and everyone agreed. If you work in a commune-type environment, I could see this working. But I suspect you haven’t discussed this with anyone and are just assuming everyone thinks like you. The problem is that most people don’t agree with your philosophy. In addition, when I’m hungry I want my Amy’s Santa Fe Bowl. If it’s not there because you ate it, I’m screwed. I’m not a food stealer so I’m not going to eat anyone else’s food. And even if I were, I don’t want the Hungry Man Steak Dinner you brought. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/22 "2012-02-26T16:28:24Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > When I lived with house mates, after eating half my small pizza I would seek out my house mates with the left over pizza. “Hey Steve, Pat check this out” and lick the left over pices feverishly while making nom nom sounds. Container full of chicken ball? Pop one in your mouth, drop back in the container and shake. > > **They never touched my food.** Reminds me of this: [http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/05/03/spit-vinegar/](http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/05/03/spit-vinegar/) 😛 Sorry, couldn’t help myself. ---
**Author:** ![SubaRhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SubaRhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubaRhubarb)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/23 "2012-02-26T16:54:54Z")
We had a soda thief. I started drawing a penis (or writing rude words) on the bottom of each can, so when it is tipped up to drink from, anyone watching can read it. The stealing ended when the General Manager saw the words F\*\*\* My Job while chatting with a thirsty coworker on night shift. If you go that route, be sure to have a mug to pour your drink in. (Dry the can and use a sharpie, the regular ink wears and rubs off) ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/24 "2012-02-26T16:59:13Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > The only way this philosophy would work is if it was discussed beforehand and everyone agreed. If you work in a commune-type environment, I could see this working. But I suspect you haven’t discussed this with anyone and are just assuming everyone thinks like you. > > The problem is that most people don’t agree with your philosophy. In addition, when I’m hungry I want my Amy’s Santa Fe Bowl. If it’s not there because you ate it, I’m screwed. I’m not a food stealer so I’m not going to eat anyone else’s food. And even if I were, I don’t want the Hungry Man Steak Dinner you brought. Well, no formal agreements in place, but a qucik “sorry I stole yer food last night” has yet to not be met with a smile of forgiveness, from all parties. Then again, we’re not to many people working on this floor - it probably is easier to have good relations when it’s a small, close knit bunch of people, than a larger group where the communication wasn’t that open 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/25 "2012-02-26T17:14:00Z")
You could make a really disgusting sandwich as a booby-trap. Like say, ham and nutella with olive hummus? Or mayonaisse, peanut butter and jelly? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/26 "2012-02-26T18:54:51Z")
The one thing we share in the break room is squeeze bottles of condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard). Those are usually leftover from the last office pot luck lunch. We have them several times a years for birthdays, and other occasions. It doesn’t make sense to fill the fridge with multiple bottles of mayo. Its also common for people to bring in a plate of cookies or box of candy from home. They leave a note or tell everyone by email that they can help themselves. We’re pretty laid back about the break room. But its understood you don’t eat food someone else brought without asking. We have cleaning out the fridge day periodically too where stuff gets thrown out. A necessity unless you enjoy seeing lunch-meat turn green. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/27 "2012-02-26T19:13:15Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Put your food in a locked box. They have a [Fridge Locker](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UFNCHM) for that purpose. I don’t know if I would get that one since you can see what’s inside it. I think I’d get a locking metal box instead. Put Spiderman stickers on it and say it’s your lunchbox. That first one looks like a humane trap for food. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/28 "2012-02-26T19:39:58Z")
> [@arseNal](#): > > Reminds me of this: > > [http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/05/03/spit-vinegar/](http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/05/03/spit-vinegar/) > > 😛 Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Wow nice addendum to the note " I spit in it too, since you’re a jerk" Someone is pissed because they can’t use other peoples salad dressing ? Dead beats should buy their own. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/29 "2012-02-26T20:06:32Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > Had it done to me, and done it myself - no biggie. If somebody is working late and finds some of my food in there, their welcome to go ahead - and I’ll do ditto. Of all the problems in the world I think a little “borrowing” of foodstuff in the workplace is a minor thing. > > It all evens out in the end 🙂 > [@filmore](#): > > The only way this philosophy would work is if it was discussed beforehand and everyone agreed. If you work in a commune-type environment, I could see this working. But I suspect you haven’t discussed this with anyone and are just assuming everyone thinks like you. > > The problem is that most people don’t agree with your philosophy. In addition, when I’m hungry I want my Amy’s Santa Fe Bowl. If it’s not there because you ate it, I’m screwed. I’m not a food stealer so I’m not going to eat anyone else’s food. And even if I were, I don’t want the Hungry Man Steak Dinner you brought. If people agree to share food beforehand, yeah, it can work. But if you just assume that it’s OK to borrow my belongings, it’s probably not. Even if you say “sorry” afterwards, what is the other person supposed to do? Some of us are on restricted diets. I can’t eat a lot of things that other people enjoy. So if someone took my lunch, then I probably won’t be able to eat anything else in the fridge. Again, if you ask BEFOREHAND, this is different. But I’d get pretty damn pissed if someone was regularly helping him/herself to my lunches. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/30 "2012-02-26T20:24:47Z")
I don’t understand people who _want_ to eat other people’s homecooked food. I don’t have hangups about most things, but a) I don’t tend to like the way many people prepare food. And b) since I know how many people on my floor wash hands after peeing or pooping - not many, at least in the ladies’ room - there is no way I’m digging into someone else’s food if I can’t tell who made it. Oh, and there’s the primary issue: doing that is a really shitty thing to do. I once brought a big bowl of peanuty noodles I was looking forward to all morning, along with a diet coke, which I love but don’t drink much of. Both were gone when I looked for them at lunchtime. It really pissed me off. Plus, I don’t do vending machines, so I had to go hungry all day, which put me in an awful mood and made concentrating on work difficult. I would’ve gone out, but the closest thing is White Castle. Even had the person apologized, I would’ve felt obligated to say it was ok, but I still would’ve been pissed of at them for the rest of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/31 "2012-02-26T20:27:26Z")
There are a couple of people in this thread who admit to stealing food at work, and think it’s okay - it makes me wonder if your co-workers would agree with you. I’ve worked in offices of every conceivable size, and I have yet to work in one where taking someone else’s food without asking them first was okay. If you tell them after the fact and they say it was okay, there’s a chance they might be lying to not make a scene. (For the record, taking anything that belongs to someone else without asking is stealing, whether it is a car or a bite of their pizza in the fridge.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/32 "2012-02-26T21:25:01Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > It all evens out in the end 🙂 Only in a small workplace where it’s known beforehand and expected, and you all eat the same kind of food, and no one is too strapped for cash to replace the lunch on the spot, and there’s somewhere you can go to get that food right away, and… Yeah. I’m glad no one steals food where I work. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/33 "2012-02-26T22:40:13Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I don’t understand people who _want_ to eat other people’s homecooked food. I don’t have hangups about most things, but a) I don’t tend to like the way many people prepare food. And b) since I know how many people on my floor wash hands after peeing or pooping - not many, at least in the ladies’ room - there is no way I’m digging into someone else’s food if I can’t tell who made it. > > Oh, and there’s the primary issue: doing that is a really shitty thing to do. > > I once brought a big bowl of peanuty noodles I was looking forward to all morning, along with a diet coke, which I love but don’t drink much of. Both were gone when I looked for them at lunchtime. It really pissed me off. Plus, I don’t do vending machines, so I had to go hungry all day, which put me in an awful mood and made concentrating on work difficult. I would’ve gone out, but the closest thing is White Castle. Even had the person apologized, I would’ve felt obligated to say it was ok, but I still would’ve been pissed of at them for the rest of the day. This is exactly how I feel. With my own food, I know exactly how old it is, who made it, what’s in it, how it’s been stored, and what it’s touched. Sealed, prepackaged foods I’m OK with (though I’d never take someone else’s without asking), but other than that I like to know a fair amount of information about what I’m eating. I did steal one of my roommate’s Clementines last week, though. I was violently ill with the stomach flu and stumbled out into the kitchen half-delirious and crazed with thirst and the first thing I saw was this bag of juicy Clementines sitting there. So I ate one. Threw it up about 20 seconds later, but damn it tasted good going down. I felt bad, though. I think she noticed (there were like 7 left), but she hasn’t said anything to me about it. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/34 "2012-02-26T23:06:49Z")
My food used to get stolen every day. I’m gluten-intolerant, dairy-intolerant and veggie, so replacement food was very hard to come by, and there was definitely nowhere else to store my food. Lunch break was 30 minutes, most of which was taken up with work (teaching) and there were no other breaks. Stealing my lunch meant making me go without food for ten hours. Fuckers. I tried dying the food bright blue, and then put TONS of chilly powder in it. That finally stopped the stealing. I just wish I’d been there to see the thief jumping around fanning his burning mouth. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/35 "2012-02-26T23:17:19Z")
I’m pretty amazed that anyone would think stealing someone else’s food is okay. Given all the conditions people have and circumstances they face, how could anyone justify it to themselves? And like has been pointed out, saying its acceptable after the fact is just trying to prevent workplace discord. If that crap ever happens to me in the future, you bet I’ll let that person know it’s wrong in no uncertain terms. Unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/36 "2012-02-26T23:25:00Z")
This thread is bizarre. Why would anyone think its okay to take someone else’s food without asking first? Jesus…someone is bringing their lunch or dinner from home to eat at work at some point on a break and may have limited means or time to get something else to eat if you take their food. WTF is wrong with people? You’re basically screwing someone over because you yourself are too lazy to bring your own food or too cheap to go buy your own lunch that you steal someone else’s. Its _never_ acceptable. Not EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/37 "2012-02-26T23:35:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This thread is bizarre. Why would anyone think its okay to take someone else’s food without asking first? Jesus…someone is bringing their lunch or dinner from home to eat at work at some point on a break and may have limited means or time to get something else to eat if you take their food. WTF is wrong with people? > You’re basically screwing someone over because you yourself are too lazy to bring your own food or too cheap to go buy your own lunch that you steal someone else’s. Its _never_ acceptable. Not EVER. I agree. Would you take money from their wallet because “it all works out even”? This thread bobs up pretty regularly and I still get amazed at the amount of people who think it is okay to help themselves to something that belongs to another. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/38 "2012-02-26T23:43:38Z")
CSB time … One time I went to the fridge to grab some leftovers that I was planning for lunch. It wasn’t there. I thought, oh, I must have forgotten to take it out of my bag this morning! So I walked back to my desk and looked in the bag - no food. Hmmm…maybe I missed it in the fridge. I went back to the fridge to find a girl I know sheepishly putting my food in the fridge. Turns out my container looked kind of like her lunch and she only noticed it wasn’t hers when she went all the way from our third floor desks to the microwaves in the basement. Oops! She was apologetic and I got my lunch back so all was fine. If you have trouble with people stealing your sandwiches, pick up some of [these novelty lunch bags](http://lifehacker.com/5050046/anti+theft-lunch-bag-deters-sandwich-thieves)! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/39 "2012-02-26T23:48:33Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > CSB time … One time I went to the fridge to grab some leftovers that I was planning for lunch. It wasn’t there. I thought, oh, I must have forgotten to take it out of my bag this morning! So I walked back to my desk and looked in the bag - no food. Hmmm…maybe I missed it in the fridge. I went back to the fridge to find a girl I know sheepishly putting my food in the fridge. Turns out my container looked kind of like her lunch and she only noticed it wasn’t hers when she went all the way from our third floor desks to the microwaves in the basement. Oops! She was apologetic and I got my lunch back so all was fine. > > If you have trouble with people stealing your sandwiches, pick up some of [these novelty lunch bags](http://lifehacker.com/5050046/anti+theft-lunch-bag-deters-sandwich-thieves)! That’s great and pretty funny but people shouldn’t have to pay extra for such measures just to protect their food. Especially in America, where food is extremely plentiful. We aren’t starving slave laborers working for a wage that buys us and our family a single loaf of bread per day. Its just bullshit that greedy fuckheads think its okay to just take other people’s shit from what’s supposed to be a community-shared refrigeration space. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995/40 "2012-02-27T01:43:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve never understood the mentality of people that take stuff out of the office fridge. We’ve had minor problems over the years. > > _:snip:_ > > Here. _a cop_ gets caught taking energy drinks from the break room fridge. > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46494926#46494926](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46494926#46494926) Becuase you make better sandwiches than we do. j/k [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerator-thieves-at-the-office-why-whats-up-with-that/613995.md?page=3)