In my local newspaper last week there appeared this headline: Survey: 1 in 5 Workers Admits Lifting Office Supplies.Oh puh-leeze! This has been going on for longer than anyone cares to remember. Yes, I believe just about everyone does it, so that makes it more than 1 in 5. Some people do it knowing full well that they are stealing but they don't see it that way ~ or they justify it somehow. Some people do it inadvertently and probably unknowingly. How is that you ask? I'm so glad you did.
A few paper clips here, a pen there, markers, a roll of tape and it soon leads to bigger things. A desk? Hardly. Just kidding with that one. Seriously, I think pens are the most popular. You use it all day and somehow it travels home with you. The next day, after having left the other one at home, it now must be replaced. Perfectly innocent.
Now I ask you, how is small-time office supply theft any different from the bosses who use a company car for personal travel or errands? Now that's huge compared to a few pens. The sad thing is they don't see it that way. But they are the first one to blame an office worker of theft. Go figure.
The article talked about taking a ream of paper. Now that's outright theft. Not to mention how they snuck it out in the first place.
I'm now gone from my job over a year. Yes, I have a few pens but they have the company logo on them. The same pens that are given to customers. No theft there. I also have a nice supply of "used" printer paper. But I had to work hard for that supply. Every time the printer spit something out, the first page was blank. Almost everyone would set them aside, in a pile, and we all took turns taking the used paper home.
So I sit here thinking this phenomenon goes on everywhere on a daily basis. They certainly don't need a survey to ascertain that it does indeed happen.
And if a company has a high theft rate of office supplies, then they should keep them under lock and key and not have them so readily available to the light-fingered Louie's of the world.
5 comments:
I had to buy two packs of rubber bands already since I've been retired (five years the end of August). First time in forty-one years for that!
When we (our company, Philco Corp.) built the control center at NASA three of the installation guys sold some of the scrap wire. There was enough money for all of us to have a picnic.
About Tuesday the next week, the installation boss, one of the three, got fired.
..
Makes you wonder what people got away with that wasn't noticed.
I've worked in an office environment most of my life. I love office supplies and the stores, so when I can I go and stock up on a bunch of supplies for at home. A lot of times my home stuff gets carried into the office! LOL!
I even bought an all-in-one machine so I don't have to rely on the office copier any more. I bought an entire box of paper for at home.
It just felt weird to take paper or anything else from the office. I love having my own "legitimate" stash at home. I buy scotch tape, paper clips, staples and rubber bands in bulk and they last forever.
It is a great feeling. It is easier than people realize and well worth the money I spent in exchange for the peace of mind I have inside.
You have touched on a very common subject. A lot of co-workers still take from the stash at work, and I am left wondering "Why not spend just a few bucks and get your own?" Unless it is for other reasons that they are taking it. It could be.
It goes beyond that unfortunately. Someone told me that the company her husband worked for bought him a new truck to drive and he didn't like it (they didn't let him pick it out), so he tried as hard as he could to tear it up by trying to shift to tear up the transmission and things like that. Honestly. Some people are just so ungrateful and mean. He got paid super good with great benefits and a free truck and gas paid. Stupid.
Another thing people do at work is use the copying machine for their personal use.
Good post Cheyenne.
We had a Superintendent of Schools who used to count out the paper clips to the teachers instead of giving them a full box. He kept all supplies in cabinets in his office and the teachers had to ask for specific numbers of pieces of paper and the like.
He also used to never break his adding machine tape and reroll it backwards when it was used up on one side.
I guess if your rear is 'tight' enough, you can keep track.
On the race you mention below, I did see the highlights of the race and it just seems that shouldn't be allowed. What is to keep it from turning into a demolition derby if that continues?
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