Pet store employee starts locking her work locker after one coworker helps herself to her perfume, only for another colleague to publicly accuse her of thinking they are thieves: '[You] don’t trust any of [us]'

Author image for Celeste Mello
Celeste Mello • Writer and Editor
Aug 5, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

Why would a coworker be bothered by an employee's decision to secure her personal belongings? Why would he become so fixated on it? 

The only reason I can think of is that he wanted access to her stuff. It doesn't prove that he personally took anything, but it is weird. It shows a lack of respect for a reasonable workplace boundary. This retail employee is new; she doesn't know the people working there in the pet store, so why wouldn't she take some privacy measures? And most importantly, why wouldn't she lock her locker? I mean, that's actually the reason why lockers exist. To lock your stuff.

This coworker's reaction actually proves why protection is necessary. Trust works in both directions. Adding a lock just ensures no one can access them without permission, and coworkers who respect that expectation have no reason to feel accused. Employees must be able to expect that their belongings will remain untouched, and our friend here is not actually helping with those strange comments.

The worst part of it all is that no one else seemed bothered by this decision. Just him, a 30-year-old man who seemed personally offended by her new precaution and began making public comments about it, suggesting that using a lock meant she considered her coworkers thieves. And he didn't keep things private; he brought the issue up in front of other employees on purpose and mentioned it while they were working on the store floor. 

Well… the truth is she had to put a lock because she found out another coworker had used her perfume without her knowing. So, rather than making a big deal out of it, which she could have done but she didn't, she just began locking her locker. So she had a good reason, and now this man has given her another good reason to keep securing her personal belongings.

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  • Female employee opens her personal locker inside a workplace staff area.
    via Unsplash+ (TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions)

    Female employee opens her personal locker inside a workplace staff area.

    People shown are actors.

  • AITA for putting a lock on my locker at work?

    Hello, all I F28 have a part time job outside of my main job at a pet store. I usually line my shifts
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  • up so I'll end up going from my main job to my part time job so I usually change in the changing. room and put my clothes bag in
    via givemepielol
  • my locker for the day. One of my co-workers M30's I'll call John recently has been making
    via givemepielol
  • comments about how I don't "trust" any of them and that I think they're thieves.
    via givemepielol
  • Coworkers talking inside an employee break room surrounded by workplace lockers.
    via Unsplash+ (TENIC Bioprocess Solutions)

    Coworkers talking inside an employee break room surrounded by workplace lockers.

    Image is illustrative.

  • This was in response to me starting to put a lock on my locker while I'm out on the floor
    via givemepielol
  • because a week ago when I came back in the break room my locker was just wide open. (I later found
    via givemepielol
  • out it was because one of my co- workers helped herself to my perfume). No one else has said anything besides John and it
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  • Coworker borrows a perfume bottle from her colleague's locker and uses it without permission.
    via Unsplash+ (Laura Chouette)

    Coworker borrows a perfume bottle from her colleague's locker and uses it without permission.

    This is a staged scene.

  • hasn't been a one time thing, he'll say it when we're in front of other co-workers or just randomly out on the floor it's almost like he's
    via givemepielol
  • fixated on it, no one else puts a lock on their locker I've noticed
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  • so I'm just curious if you'd take this as like some form of subtle diss? I have no idea why it's such a big deal?
    via givemepielol
  • DisastrousCandy8257 I mean, it's a locker why won't you lock it? So someone actually went into your locker and took your perfume, and somehow you're the suspicious one for using a lock? That's a pretty impressive level of irony.
    via DisastrousCandy8257
  • excoriator Tell John or anyone else who comments about it "I've had an occasion where someone got into my things and I've decided it's better to keep them secure." NTA
    via DisastrousCandy8257
  • KungenBob NTA. He's right - you don't trust them. But for good reason.
    via DisastrousCandy8257
  • Significant-Half-189 John is exactly the reason why you should lock your locker, NTA. If he didn't want to go through your stuff, he wouldn't care.
    via DisastrousCandy8257
  • No_Establishment8642 Just tell him "locks help keep honest people honest. Is there an issue?".
    via givemepielol
  • Jivemepielol OP I was so hung up on not wanting to come across as distrusting especially since I'm fairly new but now seeing all the comments I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this way ;-; I just didn't really have anyone else to ask so I suppose that's why I was thinking that way Thanks for the response :)
    via givemepielol
  • JustKinda Happenedxx Exactly. "John, you seem really upset that you don't have access to my locker anymore. That's making me feel even better about my choice to lock things up. I know X stole my perfume. What were you stealing?" Make it really uncomfortable for him to keep badgering you.
    via givemepielol

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Tags

workplace-stories employee lock locker room workplace boundaries coworkers locker retail employee personal belongings workplace workplace drama pet store privacy trust
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