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An employee's lunch theft woes – and his drastic solution – recently drew attention online in a tale that other office workers may relate to or understand.
In a viral post on Reddit, the employee said his workplace offers a communal kitchen with one fridge.
"Over the past month, my lunch has been stolen five times," the Reddit user said. "Not just random snacks. Entire homemade meals I bring from home, gone without a trace."
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He added, "It’s not just frustrating, it’s expensive and messes up my day."
In an office group chat, the worker asked the unknown lunch thief to stop — but no one took responsibility.
An office worker's solution to lunch theft - a locked mini-fridge under his desk (not pictured) - sparked plenty of conversation on Reddit. (iStock)
His solution? The desk jockey bought a mini-fridge and placed it under his desk, complete with a lock "just for extra peace of mind."
"Since then, no more stolen lunches," he wrote in his post.
"I said I was tired of my food being stolen."
But his solution was not well-received.
The Redditor reported that one of his co-workers confronted him and called the fridge "weird and selfish."
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"She said it made me ‘look paranoid’ and ‘not part of the team,’" the original poster recalled. "I said I was tired of my food being stolen, and this was the only solution that worked."
He added, "She said I should’ve just brought stuff I wouldn’t care about losing, like snacks or microwave meals, if I was so worried."
A colleague claimed that locking the mini-fridge made the original poster "look paranoid." (iStock)
Since then, the employee has been subjected to snide remarks about locking up his lunch, he said, and he's "starting to feel like the weirdo in the office just for protecting my stuff."
He asked others if he was wrong for "locking up my lunch instead of letting this keep happening?"
Commenters on the post, which attracted over 20,000 upvotes, almost unanimously sided with the frustrated office worker.
"[S]ounds like [the other co-worker] is hangry now that she doesn't have free lunch," one person wrote.
"When you work in an office and have a communal kitchen, stealing someone else’s food is not only childish and sneaky, but completely disrespectful."
"I'd immediately get in contact with HR about theft and bullying," a second user said.
"Just give the same energy back," another person advised. "They are treating it like a joke, so keep it at a joke level. Don't be serious."
Others thought the story was so outrageous it had to have been fabricated.
"There's no way this is real lol," one person speculated.
"Which AI did you use to write this story?" another said.
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Fox News Digital spoke with Diane Gottsman, a Texas-based etiquette expert, to determine whether the office worker overreacted to the loss of his lunches.
"When you work in an office and have a communal kitchen, stealing someone else’s food is not only childish and sneaky, but completely disrespectful," Gottsman advised.
"Taking something from the kitchen, from a cabinet, from a shelf or anywhere else is theft. Whether it’s a sandwich, a stapler, or money."
"It shows a lack of consideration," the decorum pro added. "This person attempted to bring it to everyone’s attention by mentioning it in a group chat, but perhaps another option would be to go directly to the supervisor to address it more formally."
Gottsman, who owns the etiquette-focused Protocol School of Texas, said the office seemed to be "full of cliques and bullies."
An etiquette expert told Fox News Digital the person on Reddit did nothing wrong by protecting his lunch. (iStock)
"People making comments about a small fridge under someone’s desk is petty," she observed.
"It’s simply not their business, much like any other item someone would bring to the office, like a fan or a favorite lamp for their desk."
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Gottsman added, "And, in this case, no, it was not in poor taste. They are trying to bring their lunch, purchased a small fridge they put under their desk, out of sight, and added a lock because there are strong indicators that food has been taken and it could happen again."
Gottsman encouraged the office worker to keep his chin up, and that the office bullies "will move on to another office situation."
An etiquette expert, reacting to the situation described in a viral post, predicted "the office bullies [will] move on to another situation." (iStock)
She suggested, "Get with the supervisor, manager, owner of the company or HR to use your voice positively and respectfully."
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"Taking something from the kitchen, from a cabinet, from a shelf or anywhere else is theft — whether it’s a sandwich, a stapler or money."
