food theft

[KnightofNi]

so my company provides refridgerators so people can put their lunch in them. as with all office fridges there is a certain amt of lunch theft. because i ride every day i started just bringing in my lunch meat  and bread and make sandwiches here rather than carry it back and forth each day. one day i came into work and of the pound of ham i had the day before there were 3 slices left. i got angry, left a nasty note, and went hungry that day since i had no money to buy lunch with.(i literally didn't make enough to go buy lunch after i bought my supplies) the next day i brought in a mini-fridge that my sister had given me. i have kept my supplies in there for the past 4 years or so and not had a problem through job and building changes.
starting around january of this year i started to notice that my drinks would randomly go missing. it didn't happen often and i figured it was one of myt friends who wanted one. since there was no food missing it was no big deal, i make enough now to cover it. the past 2 months it has happened with increased frequency. at our quarter ends we are often here until 3am so i buy some energy drinks and snacks and put them in there. i dont' always use it all so some sits for the next time. on april 1 i had 4 cans in there. by april 7 i had 2 and was getting quite upset. I left a note and they left the soda and energy drinks alone and just took the water. i have come in and found chips and other sodas sitting on my desk. i don't leave things like that sitting out, and most of the time it was things that i don't like.

today i came in and there is a half empty can of my last energy drink sitting on my desk. I know i didn't open it. There was a bag of chips here from another cube. I'm getting angry now.

i realized that in jan we switched cleaning companies. because of where i started in this company i knew all of the night people, including the cleaners, and they knew me. now this new company comes in and overnight things start dissapearing.

i need someone to translate this into good spanish (i could translate it to bad spanish myself)
"If you are going to take my drinks at least finish them and pay me for them."

on the shef in the door above where the cans go i put this note
"Smile for the camera  "
"Sonrie para la kamara" - can someone edit that for me?

i'm not knocking spanish speaking people. it jsut so happens that the people that now clean the building are native spanish speakers.

[somegirl]

That sucks.  I think it's time to start doctoring the cans.

[KnightofNi]

That sucks.  I think it's time to start doctoring the cans.

i was debating "tainting" them.

[Le Pirate]

pad lock on the door of the fridge?

[Ash]

electrocution time!   

[KnightofNi]

pad lock on the door of the fridge?

there's no way to do that unless i run a chain around the width and heighth of the fridge.

the fridge is only like 2x2x2

[Monsterlover]

pad lock was the first thing I thought of.

perhaps rig up something involving "electricity?"

[Grio]

Yes...booby trap time.

I once had a problem with someone using my hair grooming tools.  I would find long dried out strands of blonde hair all intertwined in my stuff.  One day I'd had enough, so I tucked some epoxy resin (no hardener) in between the barrel and clamp of an old curling iron.   No more trouble.

[KnightofNi]

pad lock was the first thing I thought of.

perhaps rig up something involving "electricity?"

i think that would get me in more trouble than it's worth to keep people out of the fridge.

i guess in theory i could mount something to put the lock on to the fridge. i would just have to bring in a drill and the hardware.

[erkishhorde]

Reporting it to administration won't help? Maybe they could file a complaint with the cleaning company to get the guy fired. Here at school the janitors started swiping our stuff and using our things too. One of them even blew up our microwave when he was making his dinner one night. I was there when it happened too. All he did was throw out his stuff that blew up and close the doors back up and pretend nothing happened.  Then they started stealing our nice new chairs to sit their fat asses in while they watch tv in their closet for a few hours on end so we don't have enough chairs to sit in for class. 

[the_Journeyman]

It's possible you need to make it known that it's a private fridge, and not for any other person to be in.  Might be a simple mis-understanding if you're dealing with non-english speakers ~

JM

[DY]

So here's what you do. 

1.  video tape yourself wiping your ass with some bologne then placing it back in the package.  Piss on the soda cans, and let it air dry. 
2.  Place the contaminated food in the fridge, and leave a note on the fridge door "WARNING, DO NOT EAT FOOD IN THIS FRIDGE." 
3.  When you notice the contaminated food is gone, place the video tape in the fridge with a note affixed to it, "PLAY ME"

[KnightofNi]

Reporting it to administration won't help? Maybe they could file a complaint with the cleaning company to get the guy fired. Here at school the janitors started swiping our stuff and using our things too. One of them even blew up our microwave when he was making his dinner one night. I was there when it happened too. All he did was throw out his stuff that blew up and close the doors back up and pretend nothing happened.  Then they started stealing our nice new chairs to sit their fat asses in while they watch tv in their closet for a few hours on end so we don't have enough chairs to sit in for class. 

i know people. it's already been reported.


here's the catch. my fridge is not allowed here because it's not approved by the company. i might lose the fridge because of that.

It's possible you need to make it known that it's a private fridge, and not for any other person to be in.  Might be a simple mis-understanding if you're dealing with non-english speakers ~

JM

it's under my desk. also, i don't care what language you speak, if there isn't express permission given why would you go into even a public fridge and just take something that you didn't put there. this is just a common courtesy thing. if it was the old cleaning crew i would simply ask them not to do it since i know them and they can't pull the "i don't speak english" routine.

i shouldn't have to mark in multiple languages that something tucked away under my desk and that usually only has a few drinks and some lunch meat at that time of night is not for public consumption.

[the_Journeyman]

Being under your desk removes any doubt it is not for public access.  Different cultures do different things regarding privacy and such was all I was getting at.  Sounds like that is NOT the case for you though ~

JM

[TiNi]

this situation would annoy me as well...

i once had a co worker take my banana i left on my desk.
i cought them eating it and asked them to just ask me next time...
they said that they thought it was in the FREE ZONE!!!  

the FREE ZONE is now a saying here at the office.