‘She’s taken it upon herself to treat every package like it’s her business’: Receptionist continually opens employees' packages and tapes them back together to cover her tracks, so the employees report her to HR and she gets off with a slap on the wrist

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jul 20, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

The digital age has bred information-obsessed individuals who must know everything about anything, all the time. Now, I'm not talking about a niche Wikipedia obsession—I'm talking about putting their noses where they don't belong. That is, in everyone's business.

In an office setting, you'd expect your colleagues to be on their best behavior at all times. If they're not careful, they might risk write-ups, suspension, or at worst, termination. The last thing you want is to be fired for a lack of self-awareness in an environment you're supposed to kind of always be on your toes in. The corporate lifestyle ain't fun, but it's what we have to do to stay afloat.

What comprises no-no behavior? For starters, you want to keep your hands to yourself—that's a given. You probably don't want to make jokes about your coworkers, because your sense of humor might not be received in the way you think it will. Most importantly, though, you probably don't want to open your colleagues' personal mail. Not only will that get you fired, but it could also land you in jail…

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  • This next story showcases what happens when you don't say “Stop!” to an entitled individual with an immoral curiosity.

    A receptionist repeatedly opens her colleagues' personal packages, including skincare, protein powder, and other items. She then tapes the packages shut again, acting as if she did not commit a felony.

    When the employees call her out and report her to HR, she is surprisingly not fired. If anything, she is vindicated. Scroll below to read the whole story.

  • "When asked why, she always says things like 'I was just checking what's inside of it' or 'It's for clearance,' which doesn't even make sense."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • "Coworker Kept Opening Everyone’s Packages Like She Was Doing Unboxings..."

    I'm working at a company where our receptionist, let's call her A, has developed a strange habit of opening only personal packages
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  • that get delivered to the office. Not office supplies, not team- related deliveries, just people's private orders. Since she sits
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  • right at the front and receives all the mail first, she's taken it upon herself to treat every package like it's her business. The role of
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  • a receptionist is pretty straightforward, answer calls, greet guests, manage schedules, receive deliveries, and inform
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  • people when their package arrives. That's it. Nowhere does it say she needs to open anything, especially items clearly marked
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  • with someone's name. But A constantly opens boxes, looks through the contents, then hands them over like she's doing you a
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  • favor, always with a cheerful "Your parcel arrived as if the tape wasn't already torn and the box half-open. She's gone
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  • through skincare, snacks, clothing, protein powders, even a coworker's undergarments. One time she opened a package of
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  • vitamins and shook the bottle like she was inspecting it. When asked why, she always says things like "I was just checking what's inside of it" or "It's for
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  • clearance," which doesn't even make sense. We're not a logistics company. We don't have any policy requiring personal items to be checked. People have told her
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  • directly to stop, but she brushes it off every time. Eventually, someone reported her to HR. Ever since then, she's been
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  • giving people the cold shoulder, avoiding conversations, and making side comments like "People these days get upset
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  • over the smallest things." But this isn't about overreacting, it's about respecting boundaries. Her job is to notify us when a
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  • package arrives not open it, inspect it, or comment on it. I really hope HR puts a policy in writing because this went way past what a receptionist is supposed to be doing.
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  • Cheezburger Image 10530980096
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • aminor321 If this is in the U.S., tell her she was committing a crime every time she opened mail that wasn't hers. "I'm sorry, Receptionist- from-HI, we were only thinking of your well-being & trying to keep you from getting arrested."
    via aminor321
  • SunshinePrincess21 Someone needs to order a glitterbomb, and have it delivered to the office.
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  • Coffeemedz Nosy bored lady. Very invasive. Hopefully that behavior stops
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  • SHAsyhl Take turns going through her desk drawers.
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  • Joy2b First she wouldn't contain her curiosity, now she's being unpleasant in a role for people with soft skills. What's next? She might not last in that job.
    via Joy2b
  • ErikaAnneReads As a receptionist....the ONLY things I open are things without anyone's name on them. XyZ company...no name. Open. Name? Pass that sh on and forget you saw it.
    via ErikaAnneReads
  • Regular-Warthog3979 When she says, "People these days get upset...." then you bust out the, "People these days have no respect for personal property/boundaries,"
    via Regular-Warthog3979
  • redbottleofshampoo Opening someone else's mail is a crime. there is no "overreacting"
    via redbottleofshampoo

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Tags

terrible coworkers aita workplace-stories entitlement stealing Professional At Work work coworkers package reddit story entitled people karma workplace entitled reddit thread Reddit reception coworker mail receptionist entitled people
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