The other day when it was 75 degrees, I grilled outside.
Nothing fancy, but those half-pound burgers were delicious.
The next day, Jennifer took one to work for lunch, topped with a slab of cheese, on a plate, wrapped in cellophane.
Jennifer’s office shares a large refrigerator, and the half-pounder was clearly visible to her co-workers, one of whom joked about the possibility someone other than its owner would snarf it long before lunchtime.
My wife’s half-pound patty was not pilfered, but workplace lunchtime purloining just might be an epidemic in America.
Susie Findell told the Orlando Sentinel that when she worked at a local health care organization, someone would open up the lunches, take out the sandwiches, fold each sandwich over and then take a bite out of the center. The culprit would then re-wrap the sandwiches and put them back in their containers. The thief was never apprehended.
Why do people steal other people’s lunches?
Here’s what workplace experts say.
The thieves are not office team players.
They don’t like their co-workers.
They are angry in a passive-aggressive way. They display their anger by targeting the personal belongings of others.
Some do it because they think it’s funny. Others simply have no scruples. They believe there’s no name on the lunch or the owner needs to lose weight anyway, so what the heck?
Who is most likely to take someone else’s lunch?
John Buffini of Buffini Communications Systems in San Diego does personality testing for corporations.
Buffini says beware of the accounting department. Accountants fall into that category I mentioned as angry in a passive-aggressive way.
Customer-service workers are also usual suspects because they are in constant stress, dealing with unsatisfied patrons.
Those above suspicion are managers. They’re always being watched. So-called “hero” departments, like the information technology folks are also less likely to steal because they help you when you’re in need. Marketing employees get so many food freebies that they’re really not interested in your soggy sandwich.
Why is this a big deal?
The victim has to buy another lunch to replace the one that was stolen or tampered with.
Some contend an incident of lunch stealing can result in two hours of lost productivity.
Morale declines.
Nan DeMars, author of, “You Want Me to Do What?” says, "A major problem that really affects the workplace is trust issues. It will always affect the morale of a company. Plus, stealing people's lunches is a crime. There's a ripple effect. If lunches are being pilfered, what else is being taken?"
How do you stop it?
Place a written note or even a photo on your lunch identifying yourself. The would-be thief might be less inclined to steal if he/she knows who the lunch belongs to.
One employee brought in Perrier instead of popular soft drinks. Another worker never had her frozen Lean Cuisine dinners taken……never.
Packaging: the less fancy the better. Do not place your lunch prominently on the front shelf.
Hide your food under your desk, inside a small cooler if you must.
Have a staff meeting to discuss the issue.
Confront the thieves.
There is also the radical remedy of revenge.
From the Houston Chronicle:
When Dennis Hoard was an electrician apprentice, he'd bring a meatloaf sandwich every Thursday.
But every week the sandwich would disappear by lunchtime. Hoard suspected the foreman, a big guy who liked home cooking. So Hoard poured a laxative oil on his tasty sandwich one day.
"I thought I'd teach him a lesson," said Hoard, who is now a retired contractor in Willis. "He spent the rest of the day in one of the port-a-cans."
The foreman had some harsh words when he emerged from the toilet, but the two later became good buddies, Hoard recalled. And it established Hoard's reputation as someone not to be messed with.
Sometimes the subtle approach can be just as effective.
Brian Hill recalled the time when he worked at a local radio station and someone would regularly raid the weekend provisions of one of the anchors.
So the next time the weekend anchor made her popular tuna fish sandwiches, she changed the recipe a little, said Hill, who was an editor at the station.
"There was no tuna," said Hill, who is now director of public affairs for the Houston Zoo. "It was all Little Friskies."
And like usual, the nicely wrapped cat food salad sandwiches disappeared, so the anchor wrote up the popular recipe — including her secret ingredient — and posted it on the station's bulletin board for all to see.
"I always thought that was the most beautiful thing," said Hill, who said that from that point on, food was safe in the linoleum lounge.
The most serious solution is one I advocate: the pink slip.
After all, we’re talking about stealing. That’s a crime. And if they’d steal your cold pizza, what else might they take?
To read previous Culinary no-no’s, please click CULINARY NO-NO under my TAGS section.
