Tales From The Cubicle

Posted on October 8, 2007 4:02 PM

Some weeks ago, somebody came into my cubicle after hours and helped themselves to my chips and salsa. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with somebody eating a piece of candy or some cookies that I leave out on my desk, as long as I've left the food on the edge of my desk near the aisle. That doesn't mean that you should stop by and eat until you're full. Grazing is frowned upon. Unfortunately, this incident was nothing less than theft in my opinion. I bought a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa as well as a salad from the salad bar at Giant one day for lunch. After eating the salad, I wasn't too hungry, so I never opened the chips or the salsa.

The next day I came into work and the first thing I noticed was some salsa on the floor. The salsa spill wasn't enough to make me put the pieces together. Later in the day, I was getting a little hungry and I remembered the chips and salsa so I went to open them up and that's when I noticed that someone had taken the liberty of opening the bag of chips and the jar of salsa. Not only did they help themselves, but they ate around 3/4 of the jar of salsa! And then they put the chips and opened salsa back in the Giant grocery bag! I couldn't believe it. I know that some people will say that the chips and salsa don't cost that much so I shouldn't be too upset. I think that makes it worse. The fact that the cost of the items pilfered is small makes the thief even more of a dirtbag. If I had left a $600 iPhone sitting there, I wouldn't be that surprised to find that somebody had walked away with it and to be honest, I would be at least equally pissed with myself for doing something so stupid.

I suppose the thing that enrages me the most is the idea of someone sitting at my desk, eating my food, and to top it off spilling salsa on the floor while they're doing it. I think the other reason I get so aggravated is because someone has stolen stuff from my desk before. In the past, someone walked off with a box of Splenda packets and a bulk package of Mardis Gras napkins, on different occasions. In my opinion, most of the insult comes first, from the relatively low value of the items being stolen. I mean, there isn't a person who works here that can't afford to buy a bag of chips (Giant brand!)and some salsa. Second, I would have not objected for the most part if someone had taken just a handful of Splenda packets or napkins. Taking the whole package, in both cases more than you would need at one time, displays a real lack of respect. If I were in the position to make such decisions, a person who committed these thefts would be collecting their last check.

I've given some thought as to what I want to do in response to these acts. I have some good ideas, hopefully nothing that will get me into trouble. I will definitely follow-up if anything comes to pass.

I want to apologize for the folks who've heard me ranting about this and immediately think, "Darn, Chris let it go!" I just wanted to share with those who don't get the pleasure of listening to me complain about stuff in person.

Just for fun, you should check out my Cubicle Laws
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