Breakroom refrigerator theft

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Both of my jobs have signs on the fridge from exasperated coworkers telling people to stop stealing the food of others.

Seriously? If it's not yours, don't take it folks. If you forgot your food, do not, I repeat, DO NOT steal the food of others.

And on a related topic, please take your rotting leftovers out of the fridge after a month or two, ok?

Since everyone is looking for a way to identify and deter theft I will make a suggestion that does not involve poisoning people.

Amazon.com: Vinker 433MHz Wireless Alarm Magnetic Contact Sensor with Remote Control Alarm Key Fob, Home Door Window Entry Magnetic Detector Anti-Theft Security Alarm Set (MG-B): Home Improvement

Mount inside the lunch bag/box/Tupperware/locker/whatever.

You're welcome.

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If you put peanuts in your sandwich, with the expectation that someone would eat it, knowing that it would cause harm you would be criminally liable. Even if you had no expectation you may still be liable even if it was not illegal.

I think you missed my point. If I pack myself a sandwich that contains peanut pieces in it and someone steals it, eats it and has an allergic reaction, the thief who stole it can't expect to get compensated for having stolen my food and thus having an allergic reaction. I didn't say anything about putting peanuts in my food so that someone would steal it and therefore have an allergic reaction. My point in saying Next Thing You Know someone will scream about it is because of this strange attitude that there should be no consequences for stealing another person's food! Like the person who complained that the food they stole was unpleasant to eat and complained to HR. sorry, no sympathy from me!

Seasoning a food item in an effort to harm someone, even if they obtain the item illegally, is generally illegal.

not my point either, again. I am allowed to put peanuts in my food. I like peanuts in my food. I happen to really like lo mein cooked in peanut oil and have brought this for dinner. if someone steals my dinner and has an allergic reaction it is not my fault, and no court in America would see it as such!

Obviously if there is laxatives mixed in with my chocolate bits, I knew 100% that whoever ate that bagful of bits would likely have loose bowel movements as a result. Proving that it was MY bag of laxative chocolates that caused the thief discomfort is on the thief, so good luck with that!

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Since everyone is looking for a way to identify and deter theft I will make a suggestion that does not involve poisoning people.

Amazon.com: Vinker 433MHz Wireless Alarm Magnetic Contact Sensor with Remote Control Alarm Key Fob, Home Door Window Entry Magnetic Detector Anti-Theft Security Alarm Set (MG-B): Home Improvement

Mount inside the lunch bag/box/Tupperware/locker/whatever.

You're welcome.

This would go over like a lead balloon on night shift, where a screaming shrill alarm from the breakroom is likely to wake half the unit and possibly give them heart attacks. so thanks but no thanks!

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I think you missed my point. If I pack myself a sandwich that contains peanut pieces in it and someone steals it, eats it and has an allergic reaction, the thief who stole it can't expect to get compensated for having stolen my food and thus having an allergic reaction. I didn't say anything about putting peanuts in my food so that someone would steal it and therefore have an allergic reaction. My point in saying Next Thing You Know someone will scream about it is because of this strange attitude that there should be no consequences for stealing another person's food! Like the person who complained that the food they stole was unpleasant to eat and complained to HR. sorry, no sympathy from me!

not my point either, again. I am allowed to put peanuts in my food. I like peanuts in my food. I happen to really like lo mein cooked in peanut oil and have brought this for dinner. if someone steals my dinner and has an allergic reaction it is not my fault, and no court in America would see it as such!

Obviously if there is laxatives mixed in with my chocolate bits, I knew 100% that whoever ate that bagful of bits would likely have loose bowel movements as a result. Proving that it was MY bag of laxative chocolates that caused the thief discomfort is on the thief, so good luck with that!

I understand what your point is. Do you understand mine? Proximate cause. You should learn the term for home insurance sake anyways.

Kid runs onto your property (trespassing) and slips and falls on your doorstep and injures himself. If you are a homeowner you know what that generally means even though you are not at "fault."

Being right is not the same as being non-liable.

Not being caught or not being prosecuted is not the same as innocence either.

Putting laxative in food is a well-documented way to be arrested for aggravated assault. Google it.

So is committing a crime suddenly OK if you are not caught?

I do not like it when someone commits a crime.

Committing a crime is wrong even when they are not caught.

I will commit a crime to catch the criminal.

It is not wrong when I commit a crime because I am will not be caught.

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This would go over like a lead balloon on night shift, where a screaming shrill alarm from the breakroom is likely to wake half the unit and possibly give them heart attacks. so thanks but no thanks!

Attenuate the noise or do not use it, whatever. Better than poisoning someone with a pharmaceutical agent and being arrested for aggravated assault, you know the thing you are advocating because it would be difficult to prove that you were the one committing felony?

Seriously, Google food, laxative, and arrested. Lots of cases relating to this.

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When I was in nursing school, people were stealing food out of the refrigerators in the dorm. (This was 50 years ago, it's hard to believe it's still a problem!) Anyway, we got our revenge. We baked a gorgeous, chocolate cake with beautiful chocolate frosting. Nobody but us knew the secret--it was loaded with Ex-lax! We even went so far as to take a slice out, to make it appear totally innocent! Never knew who, but we knew we got 'em!

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Specializes in Psych, Addiction.
Is the additive placed there for the consumption of the owner? Is the additive a commonly consumed ingredient in that manner?

I can guarantee you that if you added a pharmaceutical ingredient to a food item with full knowledge that someone else could consume it and there were adverse consequences you would be in cuffs. Guarantee it. Poisoning food to prevent theft is poisoning food with full knowledge or the expectation that someone else will consume the food.

Criminal assault if injury is caused. Crazy I know.

Actually, I think it's battery. And a very stupid way to lose your nursing license.

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I understand what your point is. Do you understand mine? Proximate cause. You should learn the term for home insurance sake anyways.

Kid runs onto your property (trespassing) and slips and falls on your doorstep and injures himself. If you are a homeowner you know what that generally means even though you are not at "fault."

Being right is not the same as being non-liable.

Not being caught or not being prosecuted is not the same as innocence either.

Putting laxative in food is a well-documented way to be arrested for aggravated assault. Google it.

So is committing a crime suddenly OK if you are not caught?

I do not like it when someone commits a crime.

Committing a crime is wrong even when they are not caught.

I will commit a crime to catch the criminal.

It is not wrong when I commit a crime because I am will not be caught.

Yes I understand the term, it simply isn't as relevant here as you seem to think it is. Kid breaks a leg on my doorstep, there's a pretty obvious broken leg on my property. Not quite the same as someone complaining that someone he stole food from (and which person? how many snatches from how many people?) is to blame for his loose bowel movements, is it? Homeowner has a broken kid on his lawn, sandwich owner has an annoyed thief in the building he works in. Not a great parallel.

As for the rest we'll have to agree to disagree. You want to dissect this down to who is more criminal, the person who actively steals from other people or the person who advocates some pretty mild measures for protecting their property. You think those measures are too much, most of us don't seem to agree.

And the idea that you don't like it when someone commits a crime, no matter how minor, is a little high-handed. Will you be calling the police when you see someone at a stop sign who rolls at 4 miles per hour but does not come to a COMPLETE stop? Should you place a tip line call because you saw someone take two plastic forks from the food court dispenser and several extra napkins because they only should have taken one of each and therefore were stealing?

Sure you can say a crime is a crime. But let's not get worked up about minutiae. No one is advocating killing someone over a sandwich!

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Actually, I think it's battery. And a very stupid way to lose your nursing license.

oh please show me a case where someone has lost a nursing license over the accusation of having a sandwich stolen by a coworker that turned out to be uneasy on the thief's digestive system. Please. Just one.

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.

It's too bad a tasteless, inert, nontoxic and totally invisible food additive doesn't exist that without the deactivating agent would cause the food stealer's tongue and lips to turn neon green for days. Then there would be no doubt who the perp is.:D

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I speak for myself, and for me it is no biggie. As for nurses talking about having the intention of poisoning another not being innapropriate, I beg to differ. It makes me wonder what else you are capable of. Yes stealing is wrong, but that does not mean I forget who I am and try to do something that I think is worse, and yes especially for nurses. I would not want to find myself explaining that to a judge. " Yes your honor, i put such and such in the food so that if or when someone else ingested it, that person became ill." If you feel that strongly about it then report it to the police.

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Specializes in retired LTC.
It's too bad a tasteless, inert, nontoxic and totally invisible food additive doesn't exist that without the deactivating agent would cause the food stealer's tongue and lips to turn neon green for days. Then there would be no doubt who the perp is.:D

This idea really ROCKS!

I think there are some additives that really do work this way. We used to use them WAAAY BAAACK in the old days when we used to check for aspiration/fistulas the old fashioned way. Have to research it but I remember old food dye used to do the trick.

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