Where my wife and I work, they have a refrigerator in the break room. It's used for temporary storage of employee food items - for lunch, and in some cases for butter or other perishable items.
It's easier to take a tub of butter and leave it at work for spreading on toast, than it is to take a tub of butter in to work, use it, then take it home in the evenings.
Well, we take a few things like the above mentioned tub of butter (not margarine), bottles of water, and sodas. We usually put our initials on the top of the bottles (which is a pain - but necessary), and place them in a certain location in the refrigerator.
The water and sodas, go inside the door at the bottom, all grouped together. (This fact will be important to remember in a minute)
Anyway... others use the refrigerator for storage of their items, too. There are also things that the boss buys - with company petty cash - for everyone to use. He sometimes gets cans of coca cola or other sodas, and puts them into the 'fridge.
(Note: Number of employees is about 12 to 20. Some are part-timers who come in in the evenings to work for about 3 or 4 hours.)
Okay. I think I've given enough details... now for what is happening.
My wife and I purchase things that WE want to eat and drink. We don't get inenpensive sodas... we get 'natural' sodas (if there IS such a thing) - you know those that use pure cane sugar, and no caffeine. They actually taste pretty good - although not like the 'high fructose corn syrup' flavored kinds that most folks drink (yall in Canada and Mexico - and parts of Europe don't have these... only us 'progressive' folks in the states sweeten our food with this.)
Anyway. What is happening is that someone... we are not sure who... is going in - after we leave for the day - and is drinking the sodas and using the 'peach' syrup (which was expensive).
The soda was actually opened, and a drink or two was taken out of it, and it was left on the counter to go flat - and be discovered by us in the morning (some people don't like 'natural' sodas). My wife was livid. (She also tends to go non-linear when something happens like this.)
This morning - someone used about 1/3 of the bottle of peach syrup last evening. Not sure what you'd use it on... there isn't anything that it could be poured on... my wife always brings in frozen waffles from home - so they weren't eaten by someone else... with syrup poured on 'em.
I'm just wondering who is rude enough to do something like this. Everyone here gets paid - so they could go out and buy their OWN stuff - as opposed to stealing it from someone else. (We both suspect one person - but I told the wife we need to be careful - it might be someone else.)
The other thing that I am beginning to mull over is... how to set a trap. I told the wife this morning... I'm thinking about putting something in the 'fridge... laced with ex-lax. Brownies, perhaps. Put our initials on the box - so that it is 'marked' as belonging to someone. Then sit back and watch who has to make frequent trips to the restroom during the day.
I also told her... the men's room is much further than the ladies - they're renovating the restrooms, and the guys have to go upstairs - which is a loooooong way to go when you really have to go.
Ideas? Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Anyone?
Regards,
Jim TX