Heroic IT Dept Less Likely to Steal... Lunches? 491
An anonymous reader writes "According to an article in the Houston Chronicle concerning lunch theft, people from IT are least likely to steal lunches because they are a "hero department." The most likely? Accounting and Customer-Support... "
muffins (Score:5, Interesting)
Also... (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you, I'll be here for a bit.
Re:muffins (Score:5, Informative)
Re:muffins (Score:5, Interesting)
My theory is that scruples will hinder people's career advancement, and the more unscrupulous you are, the higher you'll go. Being able to steal a hungry baby's food without any remorse would probably be considered a useful trait for a CFO.
Regards,
--
*Art
Re:muffins (Score:5, Funny)
Re:muffins (Score:5, Insightful)
Another part of the problem is that the laws and systems that provide corporate governance were put in place a long time ago. The country and its people had a very different view of ethics and morality in those times. I mean, where do CEO's and the like come from? Who are the people that invest money in their companies? Well, they come from us, and our own moral fiber (or lack of it) is being reflected in the nature and behavior of the corporations we invest in.
It's like the old joke about corporations being like septic tanks
Re:muffins (Score:4, Interesting)
Ultimately, it's high time the incompetent 80% that's had a free ride to date either got with the program, or got cut off from the rest of the productive members of society.
Re:muffins (Score:5, Interesting)
That is not a wise move. If you think your manager is incompetent, either leave or adapt. By "adapt" I mean, learn to compensate for his weaknesses.
It's quite likely that the manager who looks incompetent to you is simply responding to issues and priorities beyond your knowledge.
In any event, spreading negativity will most likely backfire on you. Upper management will almost always side with the manager versus the employee.
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The job itself is poorly defined (on purpose) as a structural way of giving a manager power.
Only their boss knows what they've told them to accomplish and only their boss can evaluate them.
Re:muffins (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's say you give two people $2,000 in equipment (laptop, phone, accessories, whatever). Someone making $20,000 could never afford all that stuff on their own, so they're likely to view it as valuable. Someone making $200,000 could afford it and is probably less likely to consider its intrinsic value. Someone making $2,000,000 probably scoffs at anyone ever being able to use such low-end tools.
Price is fixed; value is not. As such, the appearance of scruples might vary. To account for this, it would be required to compare items of equal relative value to each person. Are the odds of someone making high six-figures not returning a laptop equal to the odds of interns making low-five figures not returning office supplies?
That doesn't work with the muffin example. (Score:4, Insightful)
i'm not breaking a fifty for a fucking bagel! (Score:5, Funny)
"no value". (Score:3, Insightful)
Which is why I was pointing out that if that was correct, you'd expect to see $20 bills in the tin from the CxO's.
A bagel has no real value to a CxO because the CxO earns so much.
A $20 bill has no real value to a CxO because the CxO earns so much.
So the CxO picks up a bagel (no value) and drops in a $20 bill (no value). But that does not happen.
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If your company started asking for $.10 for a drink from the water cooler, would you bother putting in that dime? Would you put in $1? (assuming they had no way of knowing who did and did not pay for water)
-matthew
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Having been a low 5's intern for a year now (3 companies in that time), with interns and part-time college student work (2 jobs in 5 years) it depends on how we're treated.
The owner who laid the entire photo lab staff off the weekend before finals and didn't have the balls to tell us himself (making our favorite manager/office mom cry when she told us)
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Re:muffins (Score:4, Insightful)
Obviously there's a sense of "entitlement" there as well, but I think people are jumping on the 'all executives are sociopaths' bandwagon a little quickly. It reeks of sour grapes.
If I was trying to keep people from taking bagels/muffins/coffee in a situation like that, rather than putting out a "coin jar" where people have to put in a piddling amount every time they take an item, which requires that they keep small change hanging around (or cash money in general, which many people don't have), it might be easier to let people pay in advance. E.g., in many government offices the water coolers are paid for by members of the "water club;" if you want to drink water, you pay $10 at the beginning of the quarter and get your name put on a list that's taped to the front of the water cooler (or simply made known to everyone else).
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Rich
Re:muffins (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:muffins (Score:5, Insightful)
You're a seller, and apparently an honest one. You only see half the business interactions: cheap buyers with honest sellers, and generous buyers with honest sellers. You don't see the interactions with dishonest sellers. Any company which says "just do it right and install what you think it needs" to every vendor will be out of business in a year. There are dishonest vendors out there who will rape you if you give them a blank check like that.
The key is to be thrifty with your money when seeking out vendors, then when you find one that you know is honest and does good work, be generous with it. Of course there are always tightwads who will never be anything but tightwads. But if you're seeing a disproportionate share of them, you should probably raise your prices and work harder to convince clients that you're honest and do good work for their money.
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Re:muffins (Score:4, Interesting)
People will tell you "if you want to get rich, you need to learn to pinch every penny". This is massively untrue. If pinching every penny actually gives you a significant amount of cash you're nowhere near being rich. If you want to get rich, you have to have good, useful skills, good money management (get rid of the expensive or recurring things, not the meaningless or quality-decreasing ones), and more than a bit of luck.
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Pinching every monetary penny is an awful idea. Pinching every value is the way to go, and sometimes that involves spending more money than otherwise.
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Life's too short.
It's that simple. When I was younger (and consequently less paid), I used to try to keep my home and work stuff separate. But when I'd get to a new company, I'd be given a new phone that didn't do what I wanted, a laptop that wasn't setup the way I liked, and I could spend months before I was finally using a setup that I was comfortable with and happy with.
Then some
Re:muffins (Score:4, Insightful)
Stealing? How DARE YOU? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:muffins (Score:5, Insightful)
That feeling of guilt arises from the knowledge that the company's profit margin will remain intact, while some people's ability to even feed their families will be shot to hell.
I don't even really fault the people who make these decisions (people like you.. you're doing your job and YOU will be fired if you don't - you have as little choice as the people you might end up firing).. I fault an economy that favors profit at all costs and a stock market that is punishingly unforgiving when a company's profit margin falls a mere 0.000000000034%.
I fault a country that has long since forgotten what making a living is all about, and what building a community, and a nation, is all about.
I'm all about profit. Profit can be a good thing.. but profit is not always a good thing, and that is what so many have long since forgotten.
Re:muffins (Score:4, Insightful)
Holidays... (Score:5, Interesting)
It could also serve to explain some of the executive stealing too. I've noticed year round as I talk to executives, they frequently seem to have some sort of food available for people to grab and much on, usually provided or acquired by their administrative assistant. An executive is more likely to be used to random cookies/bagels/muffins/whatever to magically appear for free consumption than us peons at the bottom.
Just putting forth an alternative explanation.
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Top execs know they aren't going to get fired for something stupid like that.
Makes sense - extra burden of trust (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Makes sense - extra burden of trust (Score:5, Interesting)
On my second day of a previous job, I arranged to work on a machine of a user while she was at lunch. I had a visit from my boss the next day. Apparently the user left her purse under her desk while she was at lunch, and $200 was missing. I didn't even notice a purse under there; I just installed some software and left, so either she was lying, or somebody else saw what was happening and took advantage of the new unknown IT guy without an alibi.
I strenuously maintained my innocence, and all was eventually forgotten, and I even eventually became friends with the user. (I worked there for 5 years.) But I'm much more aware of situations I can get myself into. I always ask before touching a computer (except in emergency, such as virus situation), make sure they stick around if there's personal effects in easy reach, and make sure there's a witness if I'm working on any 'known problem users.' I don't take old equipment home or put it on eBay without written permission from the financial higher-ups, and I never put it in my car when users are watching. (It's an appearance thing, remember.) I'm also aware when I work late and there's a lone female employee in the building; you never know when somebody's looking for the 'sexual harrassment jackpot.'
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All the envious "higher ups get there because they steal ha ha ha" comments aside, I think there's a simpler explanation. The more money you make, the smaller the theft seems. A buck to someone making a million a year is not the same as someone who has to watch every dollar and appreciates it.
Or to put it another way, a more interesting experiment would be to put a penny candy jar out. A penny is nothing to everyone, so I would expect the rates of theft to much closer to the same.
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In my experience, the opposite is true. You get rich by being conscious of income and expenditures at all times. Really, you have to work at it. Personaly, I'm not one of those dopes who thinks rich people got that wa
Re:muffins (Score:4, Insightful)
I was working for one of the many "we're going to enhance the users internet experience" companies. The VP of development was a woman who had become independently wealthy from the IPO of a previous company and was only working here because being retired was too boring.
One day six of us, including said VP, go out to this new greek restaurant. The food is delicious, the service was warm, we were all happy. We all got the same thing which cost $8 after tax, and we all agreed that $2 each was an appropriate tip. Well the VP was too good to carry cash so she put it on her credit card. She received $50 in cash for a $48 bill.
SHE FILLED OUT THE CREDIT SLIP FOR $51!
I could not believe what I had just seen. Talk about your sense of entitlement. In my opinion she had just robbed the wait staff. Pitching in 1 of her several million dollars for an $8 meal was beyond belief. I'm not sure which pissed me off more: that she had done it, or that there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it.
Steal? (Score:2)
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Re:Steal? (Score:5, Funny)
You had water?!? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You had water?!? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Steal? (Score:5, Interesting)
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And I do think that Walmart would be more likely to be looted because it's a corporation, not an individual.
Re:Steal? (Score:4, Insightful)
One of the big stores in Chicago was impressed and sent an executive down to see if they could learn something they could use in Chicago. So he flew into Amarillo, met the district sales representative for that brand, and they got in the sales reps car and drove to the store a couple of hours away.
When they walked into the store about 11 am, they didn't see anyone at all. They figured that maybe the employees were drinking coffee or something and so they waited.
Then they noticed a sign that said "If you see a tv you like, take it home and try it out". Another sign instructed people bringing in a tv for repair to write down what was wrong with it and put the paper on the tv. Another sign said "If you brought your tv in for repair and you see it here, it is fixed. The repair cost is on the tag. Leave the money in the cigar box on the counter or sign the tag and leave it in the cigar box and we'll bill you for it."
About an hour after they arrived, one of the town's more idle citizens walked into the store and they asked him where the owners were. He replied, "Oh, they're out harvesting wheat. They should be back by 8 or 9 tonight to close the store for the night."
The visitors figured that nothing that we did here would work at all in their Chicago stores.
What kind of lunch? (Score:5, Funny)
Real reason (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Thanks a lot!
Unfortunately.... (Score:3, Funny)
What I really want to know is who the fucker is who deliberately pees all over the toilet seat and floor at work. I know people might hate their job and feel frustration, but is there any reason to take it out on everybody else?
Regards,
--
*Art
Re:Unfortunately.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Unfortunately.... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Unfortunately.... (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, our law enforcement has gone totally insane to prosecute you for something like that.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Unfortunately, I'm certain that if I made a special lunch sandwich with razorblades, and some bastard stole it and hurt himself, the police would come after me.
However, in my experience, an extremely over-salted sandwich together with an orange-juice carton full of dirty dishwater works extremely well.
Heard stories at work (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Heard stories at work (Score:5, Interesting)
Be careful with pranks like that (Score:3, Interesting)
Did you ever see the movie "Home Alone"? In today's world, those burglars would end up making far more money from personal injury lawsuits than they ever could have stolen from one house.
Re:Heard stories at work (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect the waitress has a good story to tell about what your sister and your family ate after the rehearsal dinner.
Wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
That changes everything...
- RG>
please, less science, more fluff (Score:3, Funny)
Re:please, less science, more fluff (Score:5, Funny)
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Steal my lunch (Score:5, Interesting)
I did
It was stolen
All I can do is assume it was eaten since my lunch was never stolen again.
NOW Before all the goddam whiners start barking about liablity, and poisioning and the like remmeber theis was MY lunch meant to be eaten or discarded my ME, and it was STOLEN.
Its sad I have to add that but it seems the kind of world we are in where all the know it alls have to bark up and say something they fell makes them look like they know something
THE ONLY THING thats important to know is that if you STEAL MY LUNCH YOU WILL SUFFER.
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The answer, of course, is to make everyone (except lunch stealer) happy by sticking a label on it that says:
's lunch, DO NOT EAT
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Re:Steal my lunch (Score:5, Interesting)
On the walk in to Uni, I discovered who it was that had been stealing the biscuits. And no, he didn't make it to a lavatory in time.
My food was pretty much left alone after that.
The bit I found perplexing was that this chap was a hard core Christian (born again, I think). He was the last one I expected it to be..
Re:Steal my lunch (Score:5, Interesting)
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I wonder if he still is....
And no, he didn't make it to a lavatory in time.
I mean, wouldn't you be praying for a miracle in a situation like that?
There is a better way... (Score:5, Informative)
Not that I've ever tried that or anything...
Re:There is a better way... (Score:5, Funny)
Use both laxative and Jalapenos,
and replace the toilet paper in the bathroom with rabid gerbils.
Few things are as painful as wiping your burning anus with a rabid gerbil.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I'll take your word for it.
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Man traps are illegal (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, if you string a trip wire with some tin cans on it to warn you if you have an intruder and they fall, hit their head and die, in most places you are o
Try working among civil-servants (Score:4, Interesting)
You could bring in food in a Tupperware bowl, leftovers prepared by who knows who and handled in who knows what manner and people would actually eat it! The thought of eating anything left in a fridge by a stranger just makes me shudder.
The habits of civil-servants never ceased to amuse, a herd of animals is the best way I can describe it. Filthy, filthy people. Shameless.
They used to have to pay housekeeping extra so that the restrooms would be cleaned three or four times in an eight hour shift and they were still dirtier than the restrooms in Penn Station.
There has to be some sort of psychology that attracts people to government jobs. It would be an amazing study to do.
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It's worse than we feared (Score:2)
Size matters (Score:3, Insightful)
Ick. (Score:4, Interesting)
I confess to using the cat food trick too... (Score:4, Funny)
Since then, my sandwich has been safe. Nobody ever owned up to the thefts or the note.
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Dye... (Score:4, Funny)
Haven't tried it yet, though.
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How lets somebody steal his lunch? (Score:4, Insightful)
Mr Yuk the Lunch Guardian (Score:5, Interesting)
Now I just put the Mr Yuk on my cans and lunch bags and noone dares touch them in the staff fridge.
The true motivator... (Score:5, Funny)
How to fix stealing from the public fridge (Score:3, Funny)
Spit (Score:4, Interesting)
So I started dropping my saliva in my sadwiches and lunch containers. No warning notes, no nothing just spit.
The lunch thief never really stopped, but I minded a little less knowing I was giving away a little piece of myself as well. Especially when I had colds and such.
Sure it's disgusting..but the person shouldn't have been stealing.
People like this also make it impossible to have a functioning coffee club. They always steal the milk and make coffee without paying in...unfortunately the spit solution doesn't work with 'community food' like milk and coffee beans.
watch out when the food is free (Score:3, Insightful)
We love the free food.
Heros????? (Score:3, Funny)
Dogs will do that. (Score:3, Interesting)
I've known people like that.
All About Trust (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and if you are one of the sales guys who's been eating my lunch, well...I've only got one word for you. WOOF!
2 cents,
QueenB
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what do you do if there is no food? die?