Has anyone ever stolen your day old turkey sandwich from the refrigerator or the bag of almonds that you had hiding out in the cabinets at work? You know what I mean, the work of the sneaky office food thief who sends your blood pressure skyrocketing up to epic levels. I have witnessed this happen at many different workplaces and I know I am not alone when I pray that the food gods send these people into a lifetime of stomach problems. I always wondered what kind of individual would steal someone else's lunch. I must admit that I too have been tempted from time to time when there is a half of a coconut crème pie left over in the fridge, but I would NEVER take the food of a co-worker without either a) leaving money and a note or b) asking permission first.
But who is the office refrigerator bandit? Is it . . . . .
- A broke person right out of college that just can't make ends meet?
- The boss that believes EVERYTHING in the office belongs to them no matter what?
- A Mom or Dad that just doesn't want to make dinner for their kids?
- The top salesperson in the office that is just plain flat out a thrill seeker?
- All of the above
So . . . . just how to do you stop the office food thief in 2015? Here are five ways you can stop this from happening to your favorite casserole or frozen lunch at work.
- Put Your Name On Your Food- This isn't an all-out flat out guarantee that the bandit won't actually take your food. In fact, if your coworker doesn't really like you it may actually add extra incentive for them to take a brownie out of your lunch sack or sample a bite of your chicken salad. Don't use Debbie's technique and try to isolate what isn't yours. That will just make you look flat out desperate. By putting your name on your food, you'll ward out a lot of the rookie food bandits and give them one more added risk by trying to take your food.
- Eat Incredibly Healthy- We have several people in our office who stick to a pretty strict Paleo diet. Food thieves at work tend to go for items that are either high calorie or generally aren't so good for you and your diet. That is why they focus on stealing Lean Cuisines, Hot Pockets, or sampling the leftover desserts or Panera Bread display from the day before. If you keep a pack of turkey sausages, hard-boiled egg whites, or a plate full of Brussel sprouts, you'll be a lot less likely for someone to take your food.
- Use A Camera System- There are so many types of easy to work and easy to hide camera systems. As some of you may know, you can actually manage cameras from another part of the city if you wanted to directly from your phone. On the internet, starter small spy camera systems are advertised as low as $9.99 on places like www.tmart.com. You can hide one of these in the wicker baskets above the fridge, within the bulletin board hanging in the office lunch room, or even better right inside of the fridge.
- Play A Prank- We have witnessed for many years how dye was used to entrap thieves who wanted to steal money from a bank. I'm not recommending that you put dye in the food, but perhaps you add just a little extra heat using some hot sauce like Capital Punishment (great hot sauce). What I am saying is that you don't want to get in HR trouble. That would not be good for your career. However, you could try a technique that could help you snuff out just who the office food bandit really is by seeing who sweats the most that day when they eat your leftover chicken wings
- Requires Some Assembly- Remember, that when your food at work requires no assembly, it is an easy target for the office food thieves. Years ago, I had two bags of premium beef jerky sitting in the office cabinets only to realize a week later that they had been absconded. Something that is in a bag like a sandwich or even a box of Cheez-It's are easy to walk away with at any time. However, if you put your food in several different Tupperware, it can make it increasingly more difficult for your lunch (or) dinner to be stolen. Even microwavable frozen dinners can be lifted by a food bandit and they will flock to another floor to cook it and eat it. The more compartmentalized the food and the more difficult to prepare, the more it will deter the people lifting your food at work.
Fridge theft is a growing phenomenon in the workplace and will continue to grow as we see a proliferation of more collaborative type workspaces where everyone doesn't have their own little fridge as work. Do employees do this out of pure hunger? Is there just so much apathy that people don't even care if they get caught? Or perhaps, fridge thieves see themselves as the next layer of reality TV show that we call 'Smoked Turkey And The Bandit'? Either way, it will be a smart money move for you in 2015 to beware of these unabashed office raiders and make sure your food doesn't magically disappear the very next day.
Written by: Ted Jenkin
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