Foolish teacher accuses her coworker of stealing books from his classroom library because he's reading them during his lunch break: 'You shouldn't have to be told that stealing is wrong'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Feb 20, 2025 12:00 PM EST

Although it's obvious we are constantly surrounded by stupidity, harshly judging someone else's intelligence can feel mean or unnecessary. I think MENSA and IQ test-obsessed people are extremely weird and need to stop hanging onto the glory of getting a 1580 on their SATs. Being unjudgemental is all well and good until you have to work with someone who isn't the sharpest crayon in the box. One of my friends had an intern who was the same age as her (27), and he was so stupid that he couldn't figure out how to throw out all of the trash in the office properly. He would take the little trash bags from the bathroom and the kitchen and throw them out individually instead of putting them all in one big trash bag to dispose of all at once. If you can't take out the trash at 27 years old, I don't know what to tell you.

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  • The scariest thing is that stupid employees aren't limited to 27-year-old interns. There are thousands of stupid people who fly planes, control the stock market, and teach our children. The teacher in this story is the latter, earnestly believing that her coworker is a thief for reading the books in his classroom.

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    Cheezburger Image 10470454784
    via Chris Benson

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    AITA for reading during my lunch break, then getting a bit snarky with a colleague?

    At the school where I work, as well as the main library, we have a mini-library in each classroom. During my lunchbreaks, I like to sit in my classroom and read a book from my classroom's mini- library for about 10 or 15 minutes as it helps me relax ahead of the afternoon.
    via u/randomperson1993
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    Cheezburger Image 10470456064
    via Duane Loux

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Today, one of my colleagues (not a superior) saw me doing this and accused me of "stealing", as the books are for students, not us staff. She said that if I do it again, she'll report me.
    via u/randomperson1993
  • 05
    I don't remove the books from the classroom and I put it back after my short reading time. I don't try to discourage kids from borrowing books, even if it's the one I'm currently reading (I can continue it when the kid brings it back). The students aren't allowed in that part of the building over lunch, so they don't even know I do this (so would
    via u/randomperson1993
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    have no reason to feel discouraged from borrowing books). Several colleagues (including members of SLT) have come into my classroom to ask me something while I've been reading, and no-one has had a problem with it before. I explained all this to my colleague, but she said "there's no excuse for stealing from work".
    via u/randomperson1993
  • 07
    I reminded her that staff can borrow (and even take home) books from the main library, so why wouldn't I be allowed to read books from a mini-library and I asked if there was a rule against it? She said "you shouldn't have to be told that stealing is wrong" and asked whether, if she caught me swiping a school laptop, I'd expect her to turn a blind eye? I
    via u/randomperson1993
  • 08
    laughed at this (I couldn't help it) and asked if she was seriously comparing me reading a book with stealing a laptop? She said "stealing is stealing". I told her to report me if she wants, and it'll give everyone a good laugh. She got angry and told me that "stealing is no joke", that my attitude is disgusting and reiterated that if she finds out I've
    via u/randomperson1993
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    done this again, she will report me, before walking off. Feel free to disagree, but I still don't think reading one of the school's books over my lunchbreak is stealing, but I feel a bit bad for being r de to my colleague. AITA?
    via u/randomperson1993
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    X 246 8 12 1314151617 18 19 20 2-1 301= 2-2- 342- 2.3 3+3=>
    via Andrej Lišakov (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    noncit NTA, your colleague sound deranged. Get on the front foot and tell your superior what is going on before your colleague does. No doubt she will embellish the story to make what you are doing sound way worse than it actually is. In addition to the personal benefit you are getting from reading, you could also mention that it helps you discuss the material with your students if you are familiar with the books yourself.
    via u/noncit
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    orangemoonboots Seconded. I would even frame it as "concern" for your colleague. Tell your superior that you want to talk to them, that you had an interaction with your colleague that has you concerned. Explain you were reading a book from the mini library and that your colleague saw that and accused you of theft. Explain that you did not remove the book from the premises and that you were doing this on your own time, which is obviously not theft, but that your colleague seemed stressed about th
    via u/orangemoonboots
  • 13
    have thought too much about it except that your colleague seemed so upset and you thought maybe they, your superior, should be aware of it. I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to justify yourself or what not because that could make it seem like you WERE doing something you shouldn't. The facts should be enough - reading a book that is in the room with you on your own time is obviously not theft, that's a ridiculous idea lol
    via u/orangemoonboots
  • 14
    parthenogeneticlzrd Maybe the colleague is confused about how books work. She is living in some cool fantasy realm where the words come off the page and into your mind when you read them, leaving the book blank. You stole the words! Thief!
    via u/parthenogeneticlzrd
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    Shot-Artichoke-4106 This is exactly how I would handle it. They had a strange interaction with a colleague and they need to let the boss know.
    via u/Shot-Artichoke-4106
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    lissabeth777 You're also modeling great Behavior as far as reading during your downtime. That's an excellent thing for your students to see. It should actually be encouraged. I agree with the posters about letting your supervisor know. This sounds really strange.
    via u/lissabeth777
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    continually trying THIS! That person is crazy and if she can't buy you to your face, she'll do it behind your back. NTA.
    via u/continually_trying
  • 18
    UteLawyer NTA. Implicitly, by calling it a mini-library, the school allows people to borrow books. You were borrowing a book, as intended, for 15 minutes. You weren't stealing so be proactive with your version of events before you coworker tells everyone you are stealing.
    via u/UteLawyer
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    KingZarkon Yeah, this is LITERALLY (and literaturely) the same as spending time sitting in a library and reading a book instead of checking it out.
    via u/KingZarkon
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    Expensive Plant_9530 I would be contacting HR immediately, both to CYA (cover your a) but also because this coworker is sort of harassing OP.
    via u/Expensive_Plant_9530
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    Monimonika 18 I wouldn't call it "harassing" to HR yet because it's been only one time so far, but I do agree with going go HR to make sure OP's side of the story is told before co-worker confuses things with their own definition of certain words.
    via u/Monimonika18
  • 22
    HR is going to make some baseline assumptions of what co-worker saw when hearing them say "stealing" and not know what needs clarifying. That's going to be a pain to have to correct afterwards. So best to let HR know what co- worker is actually calling "stealing" before those assumptions set in.
    via u/Monimonika18
  • 23
    MidoriMidnight It may have only been one interaction, but in that one interaction they accused OP of stealing- Multiple times. I would definitely say that qualifies as harassment, and something HR should know about.
    via u/MidoriMidnight
  • 24
    sreno77 I would not go to HR over this one incident, I would go to school admin.
    via u/sreno77
  • 25
    foolintgerain213 I fear for our future if idiots like this are teaching our youth. I wouldn't let this fool teach my dog. Lord please help us
    via u/foolintgerain213
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    Own_Lack_4526 oh dear lord NTA. This is one of the most ridiculous definitions of stealing I've ever heard.
    via u/Own_Lack_4526
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    Expert Slip7543 I wonder if the colleague is so young that she is barely familiar with books
    via u/Expert_Slip7543
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    Treeclimber3 Absolutely NTA. She sounds like one of those people so desperate to “take a stand” against something, she had to invent "problems" to "fix".
    via u/Treeclimber3

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