Work Food Thief

[livinitup]

When I bring my lunch from home, I bring it in a lunch tote with an ice pack. I don’t leave it in either of the two refrigerators at work. Every time I think I’m being ridiculous and overly cautious,
I am proven wrong. Like today.

Someone ordered too much food for a meeting yesterday, including an untouched large tray of Caesar Salad. I don’t usually bother with leftover food (I do like bagels) but my DD loves this type and I can see it’s brand new. So, I use one of the disposable containers (they left out a stack to make it easier for people to take food home) and filled one with salad. Then I found one of my own mini dressing containers, added the Caesar dressing, closed it up and left it in the refrigerator. I thought about bringing it my office but I thought I was being ridiculous.

Is there more salad and other food for anyone to take? Yes. Did someone take my nicely packed salad from the fridge with my mini container? Also, yes.

Do I just have bad luck or has it happened at your work, too?

[circa1978]

I don't really see that as food theft in the same way as someone taking food you packed from home. The disposable container, the salad and the dressing all came from catering? I think it's very possible someone thought it was an extra packed salad from a box lunch and grabbed it, vs this was your food. Unless you labeled it, in which case they suck.

We have the opposite problem at work. We host quite a lot of events, and there is SO much food waste. A lot gets put on the counter and fridge and then just trashed or never makes it to the full refrigerator to begin with.

[donutsmakemegonuts]

I agree with circa1978 , I don't see it as food theft the same way it would if someone took what you brought from home. Someone probably thought it was part of the catering and took it not knowing you had packaged it up yourself.

I have always wondered about a scenario that would happen at my old job where we would have frequent potlucks. If a person brings in a store bought package of cookies, for example, and only some of them get eaten, would you take the rest back home if you were the one who brought it? Or would you leave it because you bought it for the potluck? I worked at a hospital where there were two shifts of employees, so presumably if left, they would get eaten eventually. There was a person I worked with who did this every time we had a potluck.

[nicolewi]

I think it’s very possible someone just assumed it was leftover salad that was available for someone to take. Unless you had marked it with your name.

The one time we really had a problem with food theft (weird stuff like bites taken right out of someone’s to go container, and then returned to the fridge, as well as items just being gone) it was a woman who had some serious mental health challenges going on, and she ended up leaving her position (or being removed; not really sure exactly what I went down in the end).

[nicolewi]

I don’t know how big your office is,, but if you want your dressing container back, I would consider sending out an email or putting a note in the lunchroom that said, “ I packed up a salad with my own dressing container and left it in the fridge, but I didn’t mark it, and I think someone assumed it was available to take. If you took it home and still have the dressing container, you could drop the container back off in the lunch room. Thanks!”

[fernweh]

I always bring a lunch bag with ice packs because depending on the work location I happen to be at on that particular day there may or may not be a refrigerator available.
However, I think this is pretty common based on both my experience and H’s experience in previous jobs.

I don’t understand it - I don’t even like work pot lucks because I don’t know the state of peoples houses/kitchens and yet you are taking people’s prepared lunches that you have no idea how it was prepared/stored/etc. grosses me out just thinking about it.

[katb]

Oct 11, 2024 11:25:32 GMT -5 donutsmakemegonuts said:

I agree with circa1978 , I don't see it as food theft the same way it would if someone took what you brought from home. Someone probably thought it was part of the catering and took it not knowing you had packaged it up yourself.

I have always wondered about a scenario that would happen at my old job where we would have frequent potlucks. If a person brings in a store bought package of cookies, for example, and only some of them get eaten, would you take the rest back home if you were the one who brought it? Or would you leave it because you bought it for the potluck? I worked at a hospital where there were two shifts of employees, so presumably if left, they would get eaten eventually. There was a person I worked with who did this every time we had a potluck.

I would leave it.  Unless it was something spectacular and there was only one left and I hadn't had one yet - maybe

[CurlyQ284]

I have WFH since 2014, but I worked at an architecture firm up to and for part of the recession. Layoffs were happening, everyone was stressed and then lunches started being taken. Everyone was grumbling about it but nothing was done. Then one day the food thief took a sandwich that belonged to one of the founders of the company (there were 3 of them), took a few bites and then put the sandwich back! When the owner got his lunch and saw the bites missing he sent a company wide email in all caps saying if he caught the person they would face consequences.

I was in the next layoff so I don't know if the food thief continues their spree or not but it makes me laugh whenever I think about it.

[donutsmakemegonuts]

I had another coworker at the hospital that assumed that if something had been left in the staff refrigerator long enough, that it was fair game to eat. Don't ask me how he tracked this, but I definitely did not agree with his line of thinking. That refrigerator was nasty.

[UMaineTeach]

I don’t think it happens, but people don’t really have food “in the refrigerator.” Everyone just puts their whole lunchbox in.

Sometimes popsicles can get tricky. When 4 teachers buy 2 boxes each for their classes and the sharpie label rubs off, sometimes the wrong boxes get taken.

I can see how someone thought the packaged salad was like that from the vendor and not specifically yours

[notsopicky]

A member of my department at one of my previous schools (we were good buddies), her H would make her lunch often. She told me that because she couldn't remember sometimes what bag/containers he used, she *accidentally* ate someone else's lunch...TWICE. I teased her for that the rest of the time I worked there. She was a little scatterbrained, but eating someone else's lunch--2X--was next level.

From the details included here, I get how somebody swiped it.

[macmars45]

My work does a staff luncheon 1x/month and after the day it happens leftovers are fair game. Sometimes people take their leftovers home for themselves/their family and sometimes the leftovers stay to be eaten by staff on subsequent days.

Every other day we all bring our own lunches and no one touches anyone else's food or drinks unless they are told it's shared food/beverage.

[sent]

Next time I would tape a big label to the top of the container and write "LIVINITUP'S SALAD. I AM TAKING IT HOME AT 5 PM" in a bold-point Sharpie marker. Not a fine point marker and definitely not in ball point pen.

And I would prep myself to temper my outrage if some idiot still took it home despite labeling it.

[Roc A Bee]

I write my name on any box left in the work fridge.

The only thing that gets taken are drinks. Those get labeled too.

[bittybomb]

Oct 11, 2024 12:11:55 GMT -5 katb said:

Oct 11, 2024 11:25:32 GMT -5 donutsmakemegonuts said:

I agree with circa1978 , I don't see it as food theft the same way it would if someone took what you brought from home. Someone probably thought it was part of the catering and took it not knowing you had packaged it up yourself.

I have always wondered about a scenario that would happen at my old job where we would have frequent potlucks. If a person brings in a store bought package of cookies, for example, and only some of them get eaten, would you take the rest back home if you were the one who brought it? Or would you leave it because you bought it for the potluck? I worked at a hospital where there were two shifts of employees, so presumably if left, they would get eaten eventually. There was a person I worked with who did this every time we had a potluck.

I would leave it.  Unless it was something spectacular and there was only one left and I hadn't had one yet - maybe

My office has those little cups of half and half for coffee. Which I find to be an incredible pain in the ass so I buy my own half and half. I’m only in the office a day or two a week and wouldn’t you know someone else always uses it up and then also never replaces it.

[jorja]

I absolutely cannot leave coffee creamer in the fridge, even clearly labeled with my name…it gets used up.

[wildrice]

Yeah I am guessing this one was an innocent mistake and they assumed it was packaged by the caterer

My hot take is that unless there was enough food for every employee to eat as much as they wanted, food left for staff should not be set aside for families and children. It's for the people working to enjoy while working, not for taking home to people who don't work there. Maybe someone went to get some and that was all that was left?

[livinitup]

I am going to enjoy the thought that it was an innocent mistake because that feels better than someone who did it on purpose.

[lostrn]

Oct 12, 2024 19:15:40 GMT -5 jorja said:

I absolutely cannot leave coffee creamer in the fridge, even clearly labeled with my name…it gets used up.

One job I had we all just took turns bringing in creamers because people were going to use it anyway lol.

One of my hospital jobs we had a lot of parties and potlucks. It's really the only way you get through a night shift. Anyway, I used to bring in these big salads for my lunches, one night I forgot we were having a party and brought in my salad and someone put it out on the potluck table. Um...it's not that big lol