'Have you been feeling extreme emotions following a missing food incident?': Coworker leaves hostile note on fridge after lunch theft

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 5, 2024 4:00 PM EST

Is there anything more frustrating at work than opening the communal fridge only to find that your lunch has been stolen?

But wait: it only gets worse. This turns out to not be the first time that this has happened, so clearly, it was not an accident. There is a lunch thief in the office and they need to be stopped. So you decide to do something about it. You post a sticky note on the fridge to call this mystery human out on their nonsense. And then… just when you think you may have intimidated the lunch thief into giving up, you find an extremely passive-aggressive note accusing you of being aggressive for being upset about this thievery in the first place.

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  • 01
    Have you been feeling extreme emotions following a missing food incident? This might include aggressive behavior, sadness, paranoia, delusions, poor impulse control and many more symptoms. There is good news! You are not alone and in response to this missing food anxiety, and rage, there is a support group that has started in response to address some of those emotional needs. Our very own therapist, Scott, will be leading the Missing Munchie Support Group. He is not only leading the group, but h
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 02
    People are stealing from the fridge. My mom left a note. Here's what an employee did in response. 255 people here 331 Comments
    via u/Medical_Yam3984

  • This thread was posted to Reddit by u/Medical_Yam3984, and as many folks in the comments section pointed out, the person behind this hostile message is likely the same culprit who has been stealing all the lunches. Talk about not being a team player! Keep scrolling below for the full play-by-play. When you're done, feel free to take a look at this post about big mistakes workers made on the job.

  • 03
    Resting-Dadface 5 hr. ago A woman i used to work with made a habit of stealing food from whoever left things on the counter in the break room at work. She worked in the office, which is upstairs from the production area. The office manager caught her doing this one day and called her out on it. She laughed it off and said it was no big deal.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 04
    This was food. That i had purchased. Sure, it was a donut that cost fifty cents. No big deal. I called her out on it after the office manager brought it to my attention. She not only denied it at first, but accused the office manager of trying to start trouble.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 05
    She then went to the store and bought another donut and brought it to me. Asked me if we were "good." No. We aren't "good." I called her a thief. She flips out and started leveling a bunch of baseless accusations at me, started crying and left work in a huge fit.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 06
    Later, after the owners had returned from a day in the city, i was hauled into the office and berated for several minutes because of the way i "treated" this thief. Not wanting to make amends for the infraction and theft, the owners dictated that the counter was now the "sharing shelf" and that everyone needed to label their property. We were a company of seven people, and not once had issues with people stealing food from others. That was the beginning of the end for me, until the thief in ques
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 07
    Detective Seagull . 8 hr. ago I had this problem in a guardhouse a couple of years ago. I put sodium picosulfate in my food (it's bowel prep medication old take to delete contents of colon before colonoscopy. Think of it as the nightmare version of a laxative). I left it in the fridge with no intent to eat it and went out on a 2h patrol.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 08
    It was gone when I got back. My coworker had to work 8h of a 12h shift with a leaky in his pants. I understand that I can no longer leave food unattended on shifts with him. But he got what was coming to him. 1.2k Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 09
    Living-Tree-7630 - 6 hr. ago . Not many things more irritating than leaving a meal in the work fridge expecting it to be there the next day/shift and it's vanished. Had a $5 Trader Joe's lamb vindaloo meal stolen a whole back and I was kinda 1. And to make a joke out of it with that absurd sign up sheet is next level passive aggressive/toxic. 401 Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 10
    G_Vades 4 hr. ago I'd be willing to bet that the theif is the same catty note in your post who wrote the 310 Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 11
    Catmantus 4 hr. ago what is it with people taking someone's food in a workplace fridge? I thought we were taught not to take things that's not ours? 177 Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 12
    sebaba001 5 hr. ago I think I would straight clock him in the jaw. Who the... steals food from you then sarcastically and publicly makes fun of you when you complain? Mom needs a thorough revenge arc. 169 Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 13
    Rethagos 6 hr. ago Lacing the food with laxatives is a tempting idea to get back at them, but it may put you in a legal trouble bcuz of the harm caused. U could technically label the food as "not fit for human consumption" or "poisonous" and that will grant you some legal protection, but intent also matters. ...
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 14
    But doesn't that brochure constitute "Creating a hostile work environment" or "workplace harassment"? That is beyond petty thievery, it gets into defamatory behavior. HR would be interested in this. 137 Reply Share
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 15
    WeepingAngels 94.5 hr. ago Or you do what I do. I've built a tolerance for extreme heat. If my food isn't spicy I can't eat it, it has no flavor. I add ghost or scorpion hot sauce to most of my meals. Yes I can eat it, no problem. My food only went missing once before someone learned the hard way.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 16
    0 burntout_mind. 5 hr. ago So here's the thing, if you so want you can always add super spice to your food to get them in pain and themselves. But the thing is: food tampering could only be applied if you laced the food and then offered it. If you don't offer it to them and they take your food without permission, any ill effects from that is on them. Even more so if you labeled it "do not eat". So without the offering if tainted food, it's hard to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984
  • 17
    Weak-Snow-4470 - 3 hr. ago The one who left that note is definitely the food thief.
    via u/Medical_Yam3984

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