I was going to put this in cursing out coworkers, but it goes beyond just that so I'm putting here.
I write as a hobby (hopefully someday as a profession). I write poems, songs, fiction, the occasional non-fiction. As as any good writer does, I try to have some paper and a writing instrument accessible to me whenever possible because you can never be sure when inspiration will strike. I hate getting a really good idea and finding myself unable to write it down to work on later.
My breaks at work are usually about an hour of which I spend 20 minutes or so eating and the rest is just downtime. I decided to bring a notepad and pen to work with me so I could work on my writing during that downtime.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished writing a poem and left the break room momentarily to use the bathroom. When I returned I found one of my CWs READING MY NOTEPAD.
Now my writings don't contain anything scandalous but they are private and nobody's business but my own.
I confronted CW.
CW: (referring to the poem I had just finished) Did you write this? It's really good.
Me: Thank you, but I don't appreciate you just grabbing my pad and flipping through it.
CW: Oh, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what it was.
Me: It doesn't matter. If you don't know what something is and it doesn't concern you at all then you don't touch it.
CW: I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind. It's just a silly poem.
Me: I DO mind. Please don't do go through my things again without permission.
I told CW if it ever happened again I'd go to my boss about it. To his credit, he never bothered me after that.
Now another somewhat related story:
While working at the games store I decided one day to bring in some treats (brownies) for my coworkers. I set them to the side on the back counter to keep them safe.
A few minutes later I get called away to help a customer on the floor while my other CW is in the back. During this time the counter is unguarded. When I return to the counter area I see another customer feeding the brownies to her kids.
Me: Um, excuse me, those aren't for customers, they're for employees.
SC: Well I didn't know, there was no sign on them!
Me: They were on the back counter, in an area that is not meant for customers.
SC: THERE WAS NO SIGN! I figured anybody could eat them.
Me: You figured wrong. They weren't for you. I don't appreciate you stealing them.
SC: I am NOT a thief! (yes she actually said this)
Me: You took something that wasn't yours, what else does that make you?
At this point my manager got involved and eventually sent the non-theiving thief lady packing.
Since I didn't want my coworkers to lose out because of that stupid lady, I brought in some new brownies the next day and stuffed them in a drawer where they were 100% NOT accessible by customers.
I write as a hobby (hopefully someday as a profession). I write poems, songs, fiction, the occasional non-fiction. As as any good writer does, I try to have some paper and a writing instrument accessible to me whenever possible because you can never be sure when inspiration will strike. I hate getting a really good idea and finding myself unable to write it down to work on later.
My breaks at work are usually about an hour of which I spend 20 minutes or so eating and the rest is just downtime. I decided to bring a notepad and pen to work with me so I could work on my writing during that downtime.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished writing a poem and left the break room momentarily to use the bathroom. When I returned I found one of my CWs READING MY NOTEPAD.
Now my writings don't contain anything scandalous but they are private and nobody's business but my own.
I confronted CW.
CW: (referring to the poem I had just finished) Did you write this? It's really good.
Me: Thank you, but I don't appreciate you just grabbing my pad and flipping through it.
CW: Oh, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what it was.
Me: It doesn't matter. If you don't know what something is and it doesn't concern you at all then you don't touch it.
CW: I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind. It's just a silly poem.
Me: I DO mind. Please don't do go through my things again without permission.
I told CW if it ever happened again I'd go to my boss about it. To his credit, he never bothered me after that.
Now another somewhat related story:
While working at the games store I decided one day to bring in some treats (brownies) for my coworkers. I set them to the side on the back counter to keep them safe.
A few minutes later I get called away to help a customer on the floor while my other CW is in the back. During this time the counter is unguarded. When I return to the counter area I see another customer feeding the brownies to her kids.
Me: Um, excuse me, those aren't for customers, they're for employees.
SC: Well I didn't know, there was no sign on them!
Me: They were on the back counter, in an area that is not meant for customers.
SC: THERE WAS NO SIGN! I figured anybody could eat them.
Me: You figured wrong. They weren't for you. I don't appreciate you stealing them.
SC: I am NOT a thief! (yes she actually said this)
Me: You took something that wasn't yours, what else does that make you?
At this point my manager got involved and eventually sent the non-theiving thief lady packing.
Since I didn't want my coworkers to lose out because of that stupid lady, I brought in some new brownies the next day and stuffed them in a drawer where they were 100% NOT accessible by customers.
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