‘It’s not like it’s your own money’: Entitled dad tries to steal a traveling employee's laptop at the airport, then he gets caught and guilt-trips them into giving away company property because his son is a good student

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
May 16, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Caught in the act, picking up a laptop that wasn't his, this entitled dad thought he would turn the tables on his thievery victim. However, when it comes to expensive, company-owned electronics, most employees wouldn't risk their job and livelihood just to help out a stranger who just tried to rob them. 

I used to have a work laptop. Weirdly, and even though it didn't technically belong to me, I treated that laptop with more respect than my personal computer. Housing company files, emails to my boss, and client information, I would guard that little folding nightmare as if it were harboring company secrets. Alas, when pressed into a corner, this desperate dad decided to pull the uno reverse card on the traveling employee he just tried to steal from, hoping that some light waterworks would get the gears greased on his generosity machine. 

He was totally wrong. Like me, this employee was prepared to protect his laptop, no matter how needy or smart this man's kid was. It wasn't worth losing his job over…

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  • Cheezburger Image 10505821952
    via Aflo Images

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

  • Entitled dad thought my work laptop was "extra" and tried to take it for his kid
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  • This happened at an air port a couple weeks ago, and I'm still shaking my head over it. I was flying home from a work trip, and my company gave me a
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  • pretty decent laptop for remote access, nothing crazy just a newer MacBook. I had it in a small case under my seat while waiting at the gate.
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  • At some point I got up to use the bathroom, came back maybe 5 minutes later, and this random guy is standing next to my seat, holding the case.
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  • Me: "Uh, that's mine." Him: "Oh, is it?it was just sitting there. I figured someone forgot it."
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  • Me: "Nope. It was under my seat. I'm already sitting right her." He looked annoyed and handed it back. I figured that was the end of it.
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  • A few minutes later, he comes back, with a kid who's maybe 10 or 11, and say something like "Hey, my son could really use a laptop for school. He is very
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  • bright, and we can't really afford a new one. Would you consider selling it?" I said no, politely at first, and explained that it wasn't even mine, it's a company laptop.
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  • He goes, "Well, you could just say it's lost. They'd give you another. It's not like it's your own money." I laughed, thinking it was a joke.
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  • Nope. He kept pushing, saying things like, "It would really make a difference in my son's life" and "People with good jobs don't understand what it's like to struggle."
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  • Like... I get it. Life's hard. But trying to guilt someone into giving up a work laptop, that you almost took without asking, is not the move.
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  • GOOD
    via Aflo Images

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

  • Told him i was done talking and flagged the gate agent. He backed off real quick after that.
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  • pileobunnies You walked away from a laptop in an airport for five minutes just expecting it to still be there when you got back?
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  • supermouse35. I'm boggled at the entitlement, but have to admit I'm even more boggled that you got up to go to the bathroom and left your laptop under your seat.
    via supermouse35
  • VA-deadhead • You should tell this story at your next work meeting
    via VA-deadhead

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entitled parents employee work Travel entitled traveling reddit thread Reddit company laptop entitled people
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