A Thief With A Heart Of Gold (And Candy)

Coworkers, Funny Stories, Ignoring & Inattentive, Office, Sweden | Working | August 9, 2022

I’m an office administrator at a company with several different departments. We’re all in the same building, but every department has its own communal kitchen and break area. Every department also has its own small “well-being” budget, so the people who work closely together can decide together if they want to spend the money on fruit baskets, potted plants, activities, and other small things that make their department a nice place to work.

Once a month, I have a meeting with the other administrators in the building so we can coordinate practical things and keep each other up to date on what’s happening in the other departments. As one of those meetings comes to a close, one of my fellow administrators has one last issue to discuss.

Coworker #1: “Look, this may sound crazy, but I think people are stealing coffee mugs from our break area. We bought twelve really nice ones for the department so we’d have real mugs when we invite people for meetings, and there are only six left. Can you check your departments and see if there are any mugs that don’t belong there?”

Coworker #2: “Yours, too? Our mugs have been going missing, too. They’re only the cheap ones from [Furniture Store], but it’s so annoying.”

Coworker #3: “We have missing mugs, as well. What about your department, [My Name]?”

Me: “No one’s said anything, and I usually bring my own thermos mug from home, but I’ll check.”

I go to our break area, open the cupboard for communal coffee mugs, and find it full to bursting. Most of the people in my department also have their own personal mugs that they keep at their desks, and when I start asking around, it seems like everyone just assumed someone else bought the mugs.

Turns out one of the senior managers, whose office happens to be in our department, has made it a habit to go around to the other departments for meetings, grab one of their mugs for coffee, and then take it back with him to his own office. He’ll then put it in the dishwasher in our break area and forget the crucial step of BRINGING IT BACK.

I go knock on his office door to confront him with this serious crime, tongue-in-cheek, since he’s an easy-going guy.

Senior Manager: *Embarrassed* “Well, they can come over here and get their mugs back, or maybe you could…”

Me: *With a wide grin* “Nope! I already put all the mugs on a cart, and you personally get to take them back where they belong. Think of it as an act of penance!”

[Senior Manager] had a good sense of humor and did his tour of shame the next day, returning all the ill-gotten mugs and bringing chocolate for the other departments as an apology.

He did not, however, learn from his mistake, and Mug Returning Day turned into a regular event. Every once in a while, I’d put a cart of stolen mugs outside his office door and he’d go buy a big bag of candy and do his little tour.

When he retired a few years later, every department gifted him one of their mugs to remember them by. I miss that guy.

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