Worker liberated after he gatekeeps his office phone charger, refusing to share with thieving coworkers despite their heckling: ‘It is mine, and I’m tired of hunting for it like a shared office pet’

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Apr 18, 2026 1:45 PM EDT

Establishing dominance in the workplace is the only way to gain anyone's respect, and if that means curtailing your generosity and gatekeeping your phone charger, so be it. 

An employee brought a phone charger from home to ensure his cell always had more than 10% battery, but after his charger was repeatedly stolen from his desk, his patience dwindled faster than the battery level of an aging iPhone 12. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10625079552
    via Canva+ (StockLite)

  • There's something sacred about your own personal phone charger. 

    Because our lives are so irrevocably tied to the little rectangular computers living in our pockets, if your phone's charge runs out, it feels like you've unplugged from humanity. While there's something liberating about being unplugged and unreachable, that's not exactly the kind of vibe any hardworking employee wants when they're in the workplace, especially when clients are calling your personal cell, contracts are on the line, and your commission rate depends on your phone's battery percentage. 

    Likewise, this worker's patience was running on empty after months of getting his phone charger stolen from his desk, leading to a workplace altercation that boosted his self-confidence, ensured his phone charger was safe from theft, and set the tone for future coworker altercations. 

    He was never going to be messed with again.

  • WIBTA if I stopped bringing my charger to work because everyone keeps taking it?

    This has been annoying me for weeks and now I'm wondering if I'm being petty.
    via FloctonRowe
  • I work in a small office and keep a phone charger at my desk because my battery is terrible and I sometimes need my phone for client calls.
    via FloctonRowe
  • At first one coworker asked to borrow it once, which was totally fine. Then another person used it, then someone else,
    via FloctonRowe
  • and now my charger is basically treated like office supplies.
    via FloctonRowe

  • Phone chargers only cost, like, $10. 

    As functioning adults in society, you'd think that this phone charger's hot commodity nature in the office would prompt at least one other employee, or perhaps an observant manager, to buy multiple chargers for the office's communal use. Instead, it seems that everyone in the workplace was happier to freeload and take advantage of a guy whom they thought they could walk on, but when they weren't met with the meek nature of a perpetual doormat, the mood in the workplace shifted. 

    Prompted by the rage inspired by petty theft and mild office annoyance, this employee skyrocketed himself to the top of his game in office politicking. 

  • 920
    via Canva+ (StockLite)
  • The problem is nobody brings it back. I'll find it plugged in across the room, under someone's
    via FloctonRowe
  • notebook, or missing completely until the end of the day. Last week I had to leave with 8 percent battery
    via FloctonRowe
  • because someone took it during lunch and forgot where they put it.
    via FloctonRowe

  • This was the final straw. 

    At first, he felt compelled to share with the colleagues who shared a cubicle corner with him, but after they made it clear that they didn't respect his property, he no longer felt empathetic towards their dwindling phone battery. If they wanted to charge their phones at work, they'd have to get creative or get more resourceful. 

    From now on, his phone charger was his and his only. It may sound petty, but sometimes petty actions deserve petty repurcussions.  

  • Cheezburger Image 10625080320
    via Canva+ (StockLite)
  • Yesterday I put it in my bag instead of leaving it on my desk. A coworker asked where it was and I said I
    via FloctonRowe
  • didn't bring one. She said that was weird because "everyone uses that one now"
    via FloctonRowe
  • and another person joked that I was being stingy over a cable.
    via FloctonRowe
  • I know it's not a huge deal, but it is mine, and I'm tired of hunting for it like a shared office pet.
    via FloctonRowe
  • WIBTA if I just stopped bringing it or refused to let people use it anymore?
    via FloctonRowe

  • Setting boundaries with his coworkers and refusing to get walked on, this worker demonstrates a mild office defiance that will likely follow him for years. Although it seems minute, small acts of well-warranted assertions and putting yourself first in the workplace can create a snowball effect that ultimately improves your job for the better. 

    And in this economy, where employed workers can't be choosy, any improvement at work is a win… Even if it's just over the rightful ownership of a silly phone charger. 

  • Cheezburger Image 10625080064
    via Canva+ (StockLite)
  • Imnotawer... NTA if it's just a cable then they should be perfectly able to go get their own or go without
    via Imnotawer
  • Marionberr... NTA. Charging cables are like $10. Why are the people in your office treating yours like a valuable unicorn? Just tell them no.
    via Marionberr
  • Flimsy_Rec... Since you are being 'stingy', have that coworker bring in their charger and let them have to chase down the borrowers or the
    via Flimsy_Rec
  • charger itself if its 'just a cable'. One day, you will be so busy, a client will call, you will need the charger and have to chase it down.
    via Flimsy_Rec
  • Moving forward, only bring it out when YOU need it. If is disappears, its your fault.
    via Flimsy_Rec
  • phallic-bald... Tell your boss to buy one for the office. The more yours gets used, the more likely it'll wear out quicker or break sooner. That shouldn't be on you to fund. NTA
    via phallic-bald
  • mostly_lurki... Next time say I don't know where it is, people just keep taking it like it's office property, and shrug? Tell them you'd like them to find it for you.
    via mostly_lurki

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