There are an odd number of stories on Reddit that revolve around grown adults stealing food from other grown adults at work. Is it the thrill? Are they too lazy to make their own lunch? Too poor to buy something tasty?
It’s a question for the ages, but at least in this story, the victim found a way to fight back.
OP’s husband worked for a private hospital where people’s lunches routinely went missing from the fridge in the break room. For his next lunch, he brought in a tub of cream cheese that had a value attached to it.
Over 15 years ago my husband was a nurse technician at a private hospital in a small town in Brazil. At the hospital, there was a constant problem of food being stolen from the employees fridge, there were constant complaints but the administration would just ignore them.
One day my husband brought a pot of cream cheese (requeijão) worth 2 reais (about 50 cents) put it in the fridge and when his break came he saw it missing.
Like so many employers, his HR had washed their hands of the whole situation.
He went to HR to report the theft and they told him that since it was not hospital property, there was nothing they could do.
So, OP’s husband figured he’d take care of it himself. He called the police and stated he wanted to report a theft.
My husband just said “Is that so?” turn around and left.
He went to the phone and called the cops asking them to come because there was a theft (he didn’t tell them what was stolen).
Now, private hospitals in Brazil have a big thing about image, so when two cop cars arrived at the front of the hospital everyone, from patients, employees, HR and even the top administration came to see what was going on.
One of the cops that arrived ended being one of my husband uncle’s so he just went straight to ask him what happened.
My husband with the most serious expression just told him, loud enough for everyone to hear, that he wanted to make an official report that someone stole his 50 cent pot of cream cheese.
The police weren’t all that happy about being called out over a fifty cent theft, but all OP’s husband wanted was the embarrassment of having the cops there at all.
HR installed a camera and that was that.
There was a general silence before his uncle asked “Are you serious? If I knew this was about a 50c pot of cheese we would not have come, and would have told you to go to the station to make the report if you wanted.”
My husband just answered with a smile “I know, that is why I did not say what was stolen and now you have to make the report”, which he did.
Obviously the police wouldn’t do anything about it, but because of the whole circus that my husband created, the next week the hospital installed a camera right in front of the employees fridge and the food theft finally stopped.
Was this extreme? I wonder if Reddit thinks so…
It really does pay to get creative.
Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.
I bet the cat was mad, though.
It’s also a good way to catch the culprit.
People really have no limits when it comes to shame.
I cannot believe this is such a common issue.
Bring or buy your own food, adult people!