I locked the break room creamer in my toolbox over five dollars.
By @tesskindof · Work
A coworker refuses to pay into our monthly five-dollar coffee pool because he brings his own espresso pods, but he drinks our shared creamer daily. After he emptied the jug again without chipping in, I locked the supplies in my toolbox until he pays up.
The full story
We keep a communal coffee pot in the break room on our floor. The deal has always been simple: everybody who drinks it kicks in five bucks a month for beans, filters, and creamer. Two weeks ago, the new shift supervisor brought in his own personal single-cup espresso machine, plugged it into the main counter, and declared he doesn't owe into the coffee pool because he brews his own stuff. Fine by me. But every single morning, he pours half a cup of our half-and-half into his espresso, uses three of our sugar packets, and grabs our stirrers. Yesterday I caught him topping off his cup right as the creamer jug emptied out. I told him straight up that if he's using the dairy and the sugar, he owes the five dollars like the rest of the crew. He laughed and said creamer is a negligible workplace courtesy and I'm being ridiculous over pennies. I took the creamer and sugar packets, locked them in my toolbox, and said anyone who paid can come get the key. Now he's acting like I committed a federal crime before our 7:00 AM briefing.
How people voted
- Totally Cooked — 22% (4 votes)
- It’s Complicated — 44% (8 votes)
- You’re Fine — 33% (6 votes)
Readers say “It’s Complicated” (44%) — 18 votes and 4 comments so far.
What people are saying
@maeyy — A man who steals another working man's cream has no business running a shift.
@sashaish — Soft.
@colemm — We had a guy do this with oat milk at my warehouse and someone straight up epoxied his locker shut over it.
@hankee — Why didn't the other people in the coffee pool back you up when you told him?
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