Sweetest Chocolate, Bitterest Coworkers

The factory I work at is across the road from a chocolate factory. They sometimes sell the misshapen or nearly-out-of-date chocolates for cheap in their onsite shop.

I find a massive box of near-date chocolate for a crazy cheap price. I bring it back to work only to forget to take it home with me. I’m kicking myself all night, but I hope that as it’s a plain box and on my desk, no one will open it.

I get to my desk and it’s missing, I ask around hoping someone saw something.

No luck, until:

Coworker #1: “Oh, yeah, [Coworker #2] was sniffing around it. The way he was acting, I thought it was his.”

Me: “Oh, great. I hope he hasn’t helped himself.”

Coworker #1: “Oh, no. This was at the end of the day, and he cycles to work. He couldn’t have taken it home. He was acting a bit weird, now I think about it. I think he took it that way.”

Me: “Wait, where is [Coworker #2]?”

It turned out that [Coworker #2] had a home emergency and wasn’t in. I started to search in the direction I was pointed. I eventually found the box deliberately hidden under a load of rags on a shelf, right above a heater. The whole box was ruined. I’m guessing he was hoping to get in early and take the box from its hiding place but never got the chance.

I complained, and [Coworker #2] was told to pay me what I spent or face action. He kept forgetting, so he got written up. He still wouldn’t pay me so I complained again. He aggressively threw some money at me, double what I lost, and refused to even look at me. Win-win.