Workplace Thievery

Not condoned in the very slightest: stealing from work, because you’re unhappy at your job or feel like you’re being taken advantaged of. London-based Novara Media calls this “workplace reappropriation”:

Stealing from work is not something to take lightly. The repercussions of getting caught can range from losing your job to prison time. You need to stop and take some time to think about what you want/need to steal from work, if you’re going to act alone or with colleagues and how you’re going to do it. If you think you’re casually walking out of the office with a printer like Ron Livingston in Office Space, think again.

Um, yeah.

When I was in college, I worked at a Barnes and Noble part-time and not too long into the job I was moved from selling books and placed in the music and movies department. The reason for that was unspoken, but it was because the department had a high rate of theft by both customers and employees, and apparently management felt they could trust me enough to put me there as a “loss prevention” tactic.

One day I walked over to the Macy’s store nearby on my lunch break and came across one of the guys I used to work with, who was now working in Macy’s men’s department.

“I wondered where you went,” I said.

“Oh yeah, I got fired for stealing from the music department,” he said, shrugging.

“And now you’re working across the street at Macy’s?!” I asked incredulously.

He then said something about how B&N was “the man” and that he didn’t feel bad from stealing from the man.

“Well good luck to you,” I said and left the store.

Photo: Julian Rodriguez

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.