Employee Notices Her Food Going Missing, Installs A Nanny Cam And Catches The Shameless Thief

You may wonder, what kind of sociopath would think of taking a colleague's lunch? Well, let me tell you, stolen food mysteries at the office are really part of the package you get when signing that blessed and very cursed contract.

In fact, a survey has shown that a whopping 47% of workers have been a victim to a lunch thief, and 33% of workers admit to “having a bite, or two, or the whole lunch box” of coworkers' food without permission.

But one Reddit user with “a lot of food allergies,” little free time thanks to a newborn at home, and even less sleep has had enough of her stolen snack hoard. The woman who shared her story on r/ProRevenge has been keeping nonperishable food at her desk, but after a while, she started noticing the sweet and savory goodness going missing.

From boxes of candy to bags of chips, you name it, “I genuinely thought I was just losing my mind,” she said. So she went on Amazon and got a nanny cam, “Not for my baby. For my snack hoard.” The results were instant, and the mystery has been resolved with a shocking discovery.

To find out about the psychology behind why people steal their coworkers’ stuff, Bored Panda reached out to Arthur Markman, a professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin and Founding Director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations.

“Most people want to think of themselves as generally good, so most lunch thefts involve taking food from a communal spot like an office refrigerator rather than from someone's desk,” the professor said and continued: “That said, it is common for people who bring food regularly to work to report that some of their food gets eaten by someone else without permission.”

When asked where temptation to take food from one's coworkers comes from, Arthur named several reasons. “Some people feel like they are mistreated at work (underpaid, overworked) and see taking food as a way to even the score. Some people feel like other people who put food in a communal space know the risks that some of their food might get eaten. Some people are just hungry and looking for a quick bite.”

In some cases, “a few people are just not nice people, but most people who steal their colleagues' food think of themselves as doing something relatively harmless,” the psychology professor explained.

Interestingly, people who steal food from their colleagues find ways to minimize the sense of guilt or shame. “They typically do something easy (like taking food from the refrigerator or taking something from an open package). They often do something they hope won't be noticed. So, they rarely open an unopened package or take the last of something.”

Arthur said that “They also look for other justifications. If you think you're being mistreated at work, then stealing food is just 'leveling the playing field' rather than being something you're doing wrong,” he concluded.

Bored Panda also spoke to Alison Green, a professional work advisor and book author who runs the hugely popular “Ask A Manager” project. She believes that some people are willing to take food from their coworkers “because at some level they see what's in the office fridge as communal resources—like the way the mustard might be! Or they think the person won't miss it.”

Another reason may be that “they've seen that Lean Cuisine in the freezer for two weeks now so they think it's been abandoned and no one will notice or care if they take it—which of course will end up being the day its owner goes looking for it.” In some cases, Alison said it’s “is just antisocial behavior—people taking something just because they want it and think they'll get away with it.”

If someone is taking your food at the office, Alison suggests “labeling it with your name or a note, but that won't always work if you have a determined thief,” she said and added: “I did once hear from someone who put her lunch in a brown bag in the fridge labeled 'breast milk' and no one ever touched it again.”