Lunch Stolen At Work.

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As the subject implies, I had my lunch swiped from the office fridge today. Why do people do this kind of thing? It wasn't even anything particularly good, like pizza or a sub or something like that. It was just some mess involving beans & noodles that I cooked in a crock pot.

Has this ever happened to any of you? How did it make you feel? As for me, I've had a hate-on for humanity cooking all day. Oh, it'll eventually go away and I'll calm down, but y'know...it didn't help.

I had my lunch stolen from the office fridge, but now I carry it in an insulated bag with a frozen gel pack to keep it cold. I also got a heavy-duty workman's steel Thermos - the soup kind that comes with its own bowl. I bought it at a hardware store. It holds two servings of soup/hot food and fits in my gear bag. It takes more work to prepare but you can keep your lunch at your workstation or locker. Lunch thieves are not usually brave enough or stupid enough to go rifling through your desk/locker in plain view of all the other cubicle-dwellers.

Oh, I like the idea of the insulated bag having a frozen gel pack. If I can find one of those like yours, I think I'll invest in it! Sure beats wondering if it will get swiped again. Lunch containers I remember from long ago didn't insulate very well, but they're probably much better nowadays.

I got my lunch bag at a Canadian big-box store called Canadian Tire. I have also seen them at Target, Costco, Winners and other like places. The gel packs are sold at big-box hardware, grocery, and pharmacy chains. They are usually sold along with camping coolers and stuff like that.

I had an aquaintance at work who had her lunch stolen. It was one slice of bologna tucked into a hot dog roll with a little mustard on it. I guess the thief didn't have time to check other lunches to look for something better.

I also used an insulated lunch box. I've seen them at Walgreens, etc. They're common among schoolkids. Some of them come with a gelpack, others you have to buy the pack separately. If you can't find one, tossing some ice cubes in a ziploc bag or small jar would probably work, too.

My dad used to work with a guy at a power plant that used to habitually steal peoples' lunches. So, one day, when they found the front half of a pigeon that tried to fly through a turbine, they lodged it so that its head stuck out of the top of a cup, wrapped it in foil, and left it in the fridge as a little "surprise" for him. I don't think he stole many lunches after that.

i never even heard about people stealing coworkers lunch

but thinking about it, i think i could be such a thief browsing around some free lunches!

Every place I've worked -- and there's been a lot of them -- I've either had my lunch stolen or heard of someone else getting their lunch stolen. Some places are worse than others. At times I've used a cooler.

At my current job, I've had my yoghurt stolen a couple of times even though I had my initials written on the lid. Now I write my initials on the lid and my name all over the sides of the container, and have stated very loudly that if it goes missing again I'm hunting the person down. I haven't had anything stolen since.

i would feel sad for the person who has to steal some lunch. i would not be angry.
i would wonder who it was that was struggling so bad they can not afford lunch. i always eat in restaurants when i go to work, but if i found someone stealing lunches, i would give them money to get their lunch.

i have never been not able feed myself when i please, so i would feel badly for someone in that position.

I have found that most people who steal lunches at work have plenty of money -- they're just peckish and either forgot to bring a snack, or don't like the looks of anything in the vending machine, or just think they can take whatever they want out of the company refrigerator.

Every place I've worked at, there has always been someone who was willing to loan someone a few dollars to buy lunch. Also, in most offices, people bring in food to share with their coworkers on a regular basis. It is very difficult to go hungry in the typical office. In fact, most people in offices have trouble with gaining too much weight because there's so much free food around.

Not me personally, but I do know there are office food thieves. One lady who used to work in our office had a habit of "sampling" - it was fatal to put anything on the table, because she would be nibbling, and she always seemed to know just when food was on that table too. I remember one bosses wife who put out some food for their two kids and the boss, and the coworker came wandering in and helped herself. She should have asked first, but she just assumed if it was on the table, it was for "everybody".

Thats another thing in our office, it is generally assumed if it isn't in a bag or on a table, then it is something the pharmaceutical reps brought in or was left to us by a patient, therefore fair game. If I have to leave my lunch, I will put it in the fridge unless everything has obviously been chewed on - leaving a bottle of juice still sealed on the table isn't a smart move.

I have one doctor who has been known to snitch his secretary's snacks, but she just leaves them all over the office, and sometimes I think he does it to see if she will say anything (they have a weird little - for lack of a better term - "relationship"). She has the closet stacked as her personal pantry, so she had better expect thieves in that respect (although if you ask her, she isn't that adverse to sharing). I always put stuff in shopping bags, and it seems to keep most of the two legged mice types out. I am always willing to share if you are really desperately hungry, but I also don't want to get people in the habit of expecting me to feed them (they already think that my aspirin, certain feminine hygiene products, etc., are fair game to ask for - I had to close the doors on that pharmacy, and I have told people - KEEP your own stock. It gets expensive handing out free stuff all the time).

If I did walk in and found my lunch stolen, though, I would find out who did it and ask for some money. Afterall, if they are going to treat me as a restaurant, then they are going to be asked to pony up.

I liked the trick with the unfortunate pigeon I guess one could do that on a smaller basis and make "interesting" bait (literally and figuratively) sandwiches - nothing that would hurt - for long...

I haven't had that problem, but when I've brown bagged it, I had my name clearly written on the bag. Sometimes when I worked in retail, I got something from the local cafe or something from one of the fast food restaurants in the same shopping center.

Now, I love the pigeon story, that would definitely work as a deterrent.

I like the pigeon story. I know of worse things being used to teach a person who steals food a nasty lesson.

If someone was unable to get food and was going to starve to death, the chances are that I would give them some food.

But in my experience most people who steal food are too lazy to get their own or can not afford to becuase they waste all their money on other things like beer and high living.

I once lived in a hall of residence, one of the other men knew that I ate quiche on a regular basis and he took delight in telling me that it was not "real man's food" and it was not something which was "girls food". I ignored him as I rather like it.

One morning I got up and I found a note on my door, saying "sorry I got drunk last night and ate your quiche, I will get you a new one later today". He was good to his word, and he did get me a whole new quiche. I was quite happy that time, becuase he had eaten half a quiche and so I got repaid with interest. I also thought it was funny that Mr Macho had gone and eaten the "girls food".