Woman cleverly puts a stop to her lunch 'mysteriously' disappearing at work: 'It wasn't a mistake'

Lunch breaks at the office are often a fun time for coworkers to take a breather, chat and relax. However, this isn't always the case in some workplaces. For instance, a woman on Reddit, u/GraceBreezy21, shared how her lunch used to "mysteriously" go missing for months until she found a clever way to stop the repeated food theft at her office.

On December 26, she posted, "For months, I'd noticed my lunch would mysteriously 'go missing' from the office fridge. I knew it wasn't just a mistake because my containers would be emptied and left behind. I tried labeling my food, hiding it in the back of the fridge, even bringing super spicy food to deter them, but nothing worked." So, one day, she decided it was time to teach the thief a lesson and came up with a clever solution. "I started bringing in containers filled with random, disgusting stuff to mess with them. One day it was canned dog food disguised as chili, another day it was mashed cauliflower dyed bright green," she explained. The combination that finally ended the thefts was jello mixed with tuna. "I labeled everything as usual and waited. Sure enough, the thefts stopped within a week. No one confessed, but I overheard someone complaining about feeling 'sick all day' after lunch. I couldn't help but smile," she wrote.

She asked the Reddit community if she was wrong for taking "petty revenge" or if the thief deserved it. The people were quick to share their opinions, with some even recounting their own similar experiences. u/Relevant-Customer-45 condemned, "Stealing someone's lunch is a terrible thing to do. Some people have food allergies and can't eat takeaway. Or they might be diabetic." u/NiobeTonks added, "Or are in severe financial difficulties. There was a time [when] I had to budget my food shop very carefully. Someone regularly stealing my lunch would mean not eating for eight hours." 

u/oliveoilcrisis shared their story, "This happened to me a couple [of] times. Not sure if it was an honest mistake or theft. But my lunch was gone and I had to get by on a granola bar until work was over." u/MechanicalHorse slammed, "Stealing someone else's anything is wrong no matter the reason. But stealing someone's lunch is especially shi**y." u/One-Warthog3063 declared, "They deserved it." u/mermaidpaint echoed, "They definitely deserved it." 

Meanwhile, u/Thomisawesome criticized offices for downplaying issues like this, pointing out that such behaviors shouldn't be dismissed: "I can't understand how so many companies take a blasé stance on employees stealing food. If the employee was caught taking money out of someone's desk, it would be a huge problem, but a sandwich? Totally fine." u/photogfrog supported the OP's revenge, "You're petty and I am here for this level of petty. Be careful though..."