Never try to outsmart an engineer! That’s the lesson one former employee learned the hard way in today’s story.

This story is about an engineer who used creativity and the help of his engineering students to devise the perfect way to catch a workplace thief.

Read all the details…

Operation Let it Go

My dad just shared a story about my late Uncle Dale (his lifelong friend and fellow engineer).

So in his memory and in spirit of the upcoming holidays, I present for you the tale of nepotism, engineering students and Idina Menzel.

It’s time to get ready for the office Christmas party.

Uncle Dale was a senior engineer at a small firm in the Midwestern USA and engineering instructor at the local community college.

He was also (unofficially) in charge of the office parties.

To help offset the costs, he had a small tin box on a table outside of his office with a slot in it so anyone could donate money to the party fund. Everyone knew about it and were happy to donate.

A month or so before before the company’s big Christmas party, Uncle Dale decided to check the box.

Low and behold; it was empty.

It was stolen!

Uncle Dale knew something was wrong because he had seen several colleagues putting money in the box.

This could only mean one thing: someone was stealing from the party fund.

Meet Brad…

At this moment, Brad, the owner’s nephew and a fellow engineer, came around the corner…and something about the way Brad was looking at him made Uncle Dale suspicious.

Brad didn’t have a good reputation around the office to say the least.

He had a reputation of being pushy, obnoxious, rude and just plain entitled.

Unfortunately, he was not only the owner’s “beloved nephew” but knew how to skirt the rules so he wouldn’t get fired.

It’s time for Uncle Dale to get revenge.

Uncle Dale decided to set a trap to catch the thief.

Using his engineering skills, he set up a hidden rig using a hidden doorbell camera right by the box.

He then had a colleague loudly brag about how he contributed $100 to the party fund.

Then, he waited.

The video evidence wasn’t enough revenge for Uncle Dale.

He got a notification that the camera was recording…and watched Brad open the empty box, scowl in disgust and throw the box against the wall.

Now you’d think this would end with Uncle Dale presenting the video evidence to his boss to get Brad fired but oh, no.

As I mentioned in a previous post, “if there’s one thing engineers love, it’s solving problems. And if it’s engineering students, they’ll make it an experience to remember.”

It’s time for the students to help.

Uncle Dale then went to his engineering students.

He offered them extra credit to come up with a rigged box that would make noise when opened. The more obnoxious the sound, the higher the bonus.

One week later, they delivered their project and demonstrated how it worked.

Pleased with the results, Uncle Dale awarded them the extra credit as promised.

The students created the ULTIMATE trap!

The next day, he set up the rigged box and proclaimed, “Well! Isn’t this nice! Someone donated $50 to the party fund!”

Then, he went to his office and waited.

The engineering students had rigged the box with one of those inserts from cards that play music when you open them. By popular vote, they had picked “Let it Go” from the Disney movie “Frozen”…right around the time the song was beginning to become unpopular.

They also managed to ensure that once opened, the box couldn’t close unless you pressed a hidden side button releasing the hinge…so the song would continue to play.

Finally, Brad’s Uncle saw what was happening.

For extra funsies, they made sure to angle the insert for maximum volume AND secured it down with industrial strength glue.

Sure enough, everyone in the office heard Idina Menzel belting the hated song, and Brad’s frustrated grunts while trying to close the box.

One of those attracted by the sound was Brad’s uncle.

Finally, Brad chucked the box at the wall, managing to put a good sized dent in it.

The uncle then summoned Brad to his office.

And here’s how the story ends…

Fifteen minutes later, Brad left with a cardboard box and cleared out his desk along with a note in his file “Do not rehire. Do not recommend.”

So his engineering career was over.

That Christmas, Uncle Dale had a little video prepared to show at the party.

The doorbell camera had caught Brad’s attempt to steal from the box, all to the tune of “Let it Go.”

Wow. Inventions really can change lives! What does Reddit think about this engineering trap?

First, the “Frozen” puns had to come about.

Someone reminded us of Idina’s other name.

One person took this uncle’s story as a lesson.

And others were just simply in awe.

These engineering students weren’t messing around!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.