Should he stay or should he go now? Weirdness update p2

[veronaz]

Some offices (actually a lot of offices/businesses) now have surveillance cameras.  These can catch not only thieves, but saboteurs such as people who steal/destroy files and people having way too much fun (use your imagination).  The company is responsible for office security, not the employees.

A lock on a door to which others have the key is worthless.

[Yvaine]

So Hard Hat Swiper hadn't talked to me since I asked him last Thursday morning if he'd seen my hats. But this morning one of my coworkers walked into my office wearing her own pink hard hat as a joke, and he followed her into my office and said to me, "Is that your hat?!" I said no, it's hers. He said, "Did yours ever show up?"

I came within a hair of saying, Well, not unless you brought it back, but instead said, "No, and I'm sure they never will, but HR has ordered me a new one." And he said to me, "Oh! Who do I ask to get one? Because you know I told you my wife wants one of those."

 

I said, "Yeah, you mentioned that. Talk to HR." And then turned to my coworker and started talking about the work-related question she had for me, and he wandered out.

This guy, y'all! This guy has a lot of chutzpah. I'm loving all your comments and appreciating your feedback. Unfortunately locking my door won't do much good since our keys all fit each others' doors, and I don't want to mess with a camera for now. If something else goes missing I'll ask HR to change the locks, but I honestly don't think he'll steal anything else--he already got what he wanted! I did take home the one irreplaceable item in my office that I would be upset to lose, and I won't be leaving my (pink!) gym bag here overnight anymore.

My coworkers don't have much personal stuff in their offices either, and I know a couple of them took home some valuables they didn't want to lose. The HR lady said she might send out a warning email but it's not happened yet.

Hmmm...sounds like someone has a guilty conscience, and while aware of the missing hat, was trying to make it seem like he was completely innocent, by asking how toget one. 

Even if yours hadn't gone missing, its still a bit snowflakey to think that your company would provide him with a pink hard hat for his WIFE. who doens't even work there.

I don't see that as all that weird--several places I've worked have offered all kinds of logo'd merchandise to employees, which they could buy for themselves or anyone else. I agree that it would be snowflakey to expect to be given one, and certainly to steal one, but if a hypothetical guy wanted to go through the proper channels and buy one, who cares if it's for his wife, kwim?

[wheeitsme]

So Hard Hat Swiper hadn't talked to me since I asked him last Thursday morning if he'd seen my hats. But this morning one of my coworkers walked into my office wearing her own pink hard hat as a joke, and he followed her into my office and said to me, "Is that your hat?!" I said no, it's hers. He said, "Did yours ever show up?"

I came within a hair of saying, Well, not unless you brought it back, but instead said, "No, and I'm sure they never will, but HR has ordered me a new one." And he said to me, "Oh! Who do I ask to get one? Because you know I told you my wife wants one of those."

 

I said, "Yeah, you mentioned that. Talk to HR." And then turned to my coworker and started talking about the work-related question she had for me, and he wandered out.

This guy, y'all! This guy has a lot of chutzpah. I'm loving all your comments and appreciating your feedback. Unfortunately locking my door won't do much good since our keys all fit each others' doors, and I don't want to mess with a camera for now. If something else goes missing I'll ask HR to change the locks, but I honestly don't think he'll steal anything else--he already got what he wanted! I did take home the one irreplaceable item in my office that I would be upset to lose, and I won't be leaving my (pink!) gym bag here overnight anymore.

My coworkers don't have much personal stuff in their offices either, and I know a couple of them took home some valuables they didn't want to lose. The HR lady said she might send out a warning email but it's not happened yet.

How much do you want to bet that he orders his wife a hat.  And after it arrives, your hard hat suddenly appears far away from his office.

[JenJay]

So Hard Hat Swiper hadn't talked to me since I asked him last Thursday morning if he'd seen my hats. But this morning one of my coworkers walked into my office wearing her own pink hard hat as a joke, and he followed her into my office and said to me, "Is that your hat?!" I said no, it's hers. He said, "Did yours ever show up?"

I came within a hair of saying, Well, not unless you brought it back, but instead said, "No, and I'm sure they never will, but HR has ordered me a new one." And he said to me, "Oh! Who do I ask to get one? Because you know I told you my wife wants one of those."

 

I said, "Yeah, you mentioned that. Talk to HR." And then turned to my coworker and started talking about the work-related question she had for me, and he wandered out.

This guy, y'all! This guy has a lot of chutzpah. I'm loving all your comments and appreciating your feedback. Unfortunately locking my door won't do much good since our keys all fit each others' doors, and I don't want to mess with a camera for now. If something else goes missing I'll ask HR to change the locks, but I honestly don't think he'll steal anything else--he already got what he wanted! I did take home the one irreplaceable item in my office that I would be upset to lose, and I won't be leaving my (pink!) gym bag here overnight anymore.

My coworkers don't have much personal stuff in their offices either, and I know a couple of them took home some valuables they didn't want to lose. The HR lady said she might send out a warning email but it's not happened yet.

How much do you want to bet that he orders his wife a hat.  And after it arrives, your hard hat suddenly appears far away from his office.

Ohhh I think we have a winner. I cannot wait to see if this happens. 

[SplishFish]

I'd definitely ask the boss what to do to prevent a theft from happening again. It's very obvious who the thief is, but without solid proof, you can't do much. But that doesn't change the fact that there is a thief in your offices, and this should be dealt with anyway. I'd start by pointing out that another system is needed instead of the current habit of leaving doors unlocked so anyone can wander into an empty office. Maybe a plastic sleeve taped to the office door? People can leave papers to be signed in that. It's that easy.

I strongly recommend the bolded. Another suggestion would be a process change where common files are kept in a separate cabinet outside of offices or on a shared server. Keeping communal info in individual desks/offices is just tiresome even without the theft issue.

[lady_disdain]

If an office wide email about theft goes out, I have 5 bucks that say he will say something of his was stolen as well.

[MurPl1]

I would demand a unique key/lock to my office.  Having everyone have the same key to all the locks has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

But you have a situation where you're office and your items have been stolen.  The company needs to provide you a secure work environment.  Or they need to institute a policy where no doors lock and everyone is warned that nothing is secure and to not leave valuable or personal items in the office.  Or do so at their own risk.

[VorFemme]

When you get a replacement pink hard hat - engrave your name somewhere inside it (if that isn't going to compromise the safe use of the hard hat) or use a permanent marker UNDER strapping or lining, so that it is hidden from casual view. 

Then if a second pink hard hat goes missing - it can be proven that the particular hat was YOURS. 

I had stuff that was marked with my name (in permanent marker) stolen when our company was moving from one building to another - I planned on packing MY desk at the last minute (Friday) and taking everything home to take back to the new desk (Monday).  I came in one day to find some of my personal "organizing" stuff missing (plastic tray with several compartments, pen holder, and a couple of other things).  I took everything home that day and most of it is still home, twelve years later.

The missing stuff never turned up - with or without my name on it.

[blarg314]

The communal key thing doesn't seem weird to me - the keys are intended as a security measure for outsiders (random people who might come into the office, theft after hours), not for internal security between co-workers. It's no less secure than an office that has an open floor plan and cubicles - any employee can go into anyone else's cubicle.  And it's not that strange that people working in one office might need documents or supplies that are stored in another office when people work on similar projects.

[onikenbai]

When you get a replacement pink hard hat - engrave your name somewhere inside it (if that isn't going to compromise the safe use of the hard hat) or use a permanent marker UNDER strapping or lining, so that it is hidden from casual view. 

If you intend to use your hard hat as a hard hat, you shouldn't be writing on it or scratching the surface anywhere as it invalidates the warranty on the hat.  Depending on what country you're in, you shouldn't put stickers on it either.  Not that I think a sticker is really going to do that much damage, but I'm just reporting the facts. 

Do you have hats in purple?  I want a purple one.  I would be the prettiest girl on the drill rig.  I need a new hard hat anyway as I think my old one is expired.

[Katana_Geldar]

People write all the time in texta on hard hats. My DH has one with his name on it for when he goes on work sites.

[TeamBhakta]

I would be really tempted to look up his FB & his wife's FB, to see if there are pictures involving "This is me wearing my new pink hat. Isn't my honey the best ? He just randomly surprised me with one today!"

[onikenbai]

People write all the time in texta on hard hats. My DH has one with his name on it for when he goes on work sites.

Yeah, I know, and mine has stickers all over it.  I had to laugh when I went through the CN Rail training that discussed the "thou shalt not mark up your hard hat in any way" rule in great detail and then promptly issued us a sticker which had to be prominently displayed on our hard hats.

[Sweettooth]

I don't have a real update--except for the weird conversation we had Wednesday, he'd not spoken to me at all since I'd asked him about the hats, but yesterday he asked me a couple of work-related questions and I answered them politely. So I guess that's how it's going to be, we're just going to pretend this never happened.

Thank you all for your responses; I did think about asking for the locks to be changed, but it's an expense we don't need and I really do think he already took what he wanted and won't be stealing again. But if he does, you can bet I'll post about it here! 

[JoW]

Is there any way you could get locks on you desks, a different lock for each desk?  That worked well for me at my previous job when money was being stolen from my purse.