'AITA for 'ghost saucing' my coworker who always steals my lunch?'
"AITA for 'ghost saucing' my coworker who always steals my lunch?"
I have a coworker, Mike(30M), who constantly steals people's food from the office fridge, including mine. I've caught him red-handed twice, but he always plays dumb or says, "Oh, I thought it was mine."
HR has done nothing since there’s no “proof,” and it’s not worth escalating further. Last week, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I made a special lunch of pasta with extra hot ghost pepper sauce. For context, I handle spice pretty well, but this stuff is lethal for the unprepared. I clearly labeled the container with my name and put it in the fridge.
Sure enough, within an hour, Mike was coughing, red-faced, and downing water at his desk. He yelled at me, asking why I brought "hazardous food" to work and accused me of trying to hurt him. I calmly replied that it was my lunch, clearly labeled, and asked why he ate it if he knew it wasn’t his.
Now some coworkers are calling me petty and saying I overreacted while Mike was definitely joking, while others think Mike deserved it. HR sent out a generic email about fridge etiquette but hasn’t directly addressed him. Mike hasn’t stolen anything since, but he’s giving me dirty looks and avoiding me. AITA for my spicy lunch?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
NTA. He will never take your lunch again after this. Just make sure to never admit that you did it to set him up. If anyone asks, you just love spicy food and that's why you made your lunch spicy.
No-Ear5692 OP
Thank you, I really didn't think about that.
Do it again with something else that would never be expected to be super spicy. PBJ, perhaps? Lol.
They do sell ghost pepper preserves!
No-Ear5692 OP
Honestly, I think he got exactly what he deserved. He’s been stealing my food without any consequences, a little spicy karma isn’t the worst thing. I did it in a way that wasn’t harmful long-term, and he learned his lesson.
If him or anyone asks why you “booby trapped” your food just say “I like spicy food. Why did he steal my lunch?” Just answer everything with “why did you steal my lunch?”
NTA. He STOLE your lunch. He ATE your lunch. He DESERVES to be ghost-peppered. Your co-workers are so full of s&^%.
No-Ear5692 OP
Just my thoughts.
NTA. How is he “joking” by eating other people’s food once, let alone regularly?? Do they even know what a joke is?
No-Ear5692 OP
Exactly my question.
Occupational hazard of being a thief. None of this would have happened had he kept his hands in his own pockets and ordered his own lunch. Tough shit for him as is the case for spicy food, You eat it once but you pay twice.
Your position is perfectly defensible as you like spicy food. I had the same thing happen to me. In a moment of frustration and anger, I baked ex-lax chocolate into brownies and put them in my lunch bag. They were stolen and hopefully gave my food thief likely the worst case of the runs he ever experienced. And soon after my lunch stopped being stolen.
"Now some coworkers are calling me petty and saying I overreacted while Mike was definitely joking, while others think Mike deserved it. HR sent out a generic email about fridge etiquette but hasn’t directly addressed him. Mike hasn’t stolen anything since, but he’s giving me dirty looks and avoiding me."
Who cares what they think? Im sure their song would change when its their lunches being stolen. The fact he stopped doing it (and is now avoiding you) means the lesson was successfully taught and the ends justified the means. Good on you. NTA
No-Ear5692 OP
Thank you.
NTA. Personally, I don't think you're an AH, especially if you intended to actually eat that lunch yourself. It's a gray area if you had an alternative lunch planned and that was bait in a trap.
That being said, my favorite was the one where the poster had a doctor that helped and prescribed laxatives for his "constipation problem". The thief was obviously affected in a serious way so HR brought the poster in for a conversation. HR basically took the "what do you have to say for yourself" to which the reply was:
"What are we going to do about the theft of my prescription medication?" Cue an "oh crap" moment from HR because that's actually a serious problem they'd have to address.
So, if it starts happening again, time to start looking into whether or not there are any "medications" you can add to your food and label it as such. Or heck, just label as as such (i.e. [OP's] food, contains medication).
No-Ear5692 OP
I'm definitely doing that, let's see what they will do.
NTA just keep bringing in your spicy foods and no one can really say anything. Also, consider an insulated lunch bag for your food items that need refrigeration for 4-5 hrs. I use one regularly because my office is close to a kitchenette but not the break room.
No-Ear5692 OP
I'm getting one, thanks for the suggestion