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Office “Borrower” Reprimanded By Boss For Taking Personal Items, To Colleagues’ Great Delight
Recently, I have been writing so many stories about the odd folks in the corporate world. It just makes me wonder whether that’s how they really are or if it’s the workplace environment that casts some voodoo spell on them.
Either way, some of them can be just too much to bear, and you have no option but to stick up for yourself. The original poster’s (OP) coworker is an entitled oddball who loves to “borrow” things from people but finds it a hard task to return them. Read on to see how OP dealt with her!
More info: Reddit
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It’s funny how the corporate world is full of people who are up to some or other antic
Image credits: fauxels / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The poster has a coworker (Lisa), who loves to “borrow” things from people but finds it a tiresome task to return them
Image credits: sn0wcoach
Image credits: Kaboompics.com / Pexels (not the actual photo)
When Lisa asked to borrow the poster’s charger, she didn’t let her, as she had taken it before and hadn’t returned it for 3 days
Image credits: sn0wcoach
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Lisa got offended upon the refusal and proceeded to make a big deal out of it in front of everyone
Image credits: sn0wcoach
Image credits: krakenimages.com / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However, their boss pulled her aside and reprimanded her, explaining that it’s not cool to just take people’s personal things
Image credits: sn0wcoach
Image credits: PNW Production / Pexels (not the actual photo)
They also found out that the poster was not the only one from whom Lisa had “borrowed” something
Image credits: sn0wcoach
The poster is thrilled that she didn’t even snitch about her, yet Lisa got reprimanded
Today, we dive into a corporate story about how a woman (Lisa) loves to “borrow” things from her coworkers but conveniently finds it too tedious to return them. When people go asking for their stuff back, she acts like they are bothering her for their own things. Wow, I can smell her sense of entitlement from miles away.
Anyway, one day, she came over to Reddit user sn0wcoach and asked for her good charger, you know, the one with a long cable. The thing is, just recently, she had borrowed the poster’s charger and failed to return it for 3 days. The poster had to ask for it back, and even then, Lisa had gotten all dramatic about it.
This time, OP refused, and an annoyed Lisa persisted, saying that her phone only had 9% battery left. The poster retorted that she only had 7% left and needed it. Frustrated, Lisa made quite a big deal out of it, so some of the poster’s colleagues said that she should have just given it to avoid the drama. However, when OP vented online, folks said no way and sided with her.
The poster soon gave us a delightful update that when Lisa was huffing about it, their boss pulled her aside and reprimanded her. She was reminded that personal items should be respected, and she should stop treating her colleagues’ desks like a rental shelf. OP is all too joyous about it as she didn’t even snitch on Lisa herself.
Image credits: Jopwell / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Peeps online were also happy that Lisa got a reality check, and many shared similar stories. The poster quite quickly realized that almost all of us have a Lisa in our companies. Many also called out Lisa’s sense of entitlement, which was hitting the roof in the story.
It has been noted that when someone doesn’t give in to their demands, entitled people will cause a big scene. They may be very dramatic when something does not go their way. That surely sounds like Lisa, acting all exasperated when OP refused to lend her a charger. Of course, entitlement in a workplace is not a good thing.
If Lisa is so possessive about other people’s things, I can’t even imagine how she must be about her own things. Honestly, it’s a good thing that the boss called her out and told her that what she was doing was wrong. It’s better than letting her carry on with her behavior that is clearly annoying the rest of her colleagues.
Besides, it might even be causing a disruption at the workplace. Imagine having her come up to you and ask for your things, and when she fails to return them, you have to go to her and ask for them back. Seems like quite a hassle to me, and I wouldn’t want that disturbance to happen every other day.
Netizens also said the same thing, and many wished that they could teach a lesson to the Lisas in their offices. What about you? If you were in the poster’s shoes, how would you have handled the situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
People shared similar instances, and the poster was shocked to see that almost everyone has a Lisa in their office
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What do you think ?
Paul C 8 months ago
I don't understand this. If someone asks to borrow my charger, the answer is "sure, leave me your phone, I'll tell you when it's done." If someone wants their phone charged, they would have no problem. If someone wants your charger, they might. We've all dealt with family or friends or work colleagues who "borrow" things with no intention of returning them. As the Bard once said, neither a burrower nor a lentil be. Or something like that. :-)
The Other Guest 8 months ago
Consider this to be 100 extra upvotes for making me laugh at 6am. Now I'm gonna be humming "Neither a burrower nor a lentil be" to the tune they used for musical Hamlet on Gilligan's Island.
Load More Replies...
Tabitha 8 months ago (edited)
At one job, my coworkers had a tendency to go into each others’ desks to borrow stuff. Now, the group of them didn’t mind it, and agreed to let each other do it, but I minded a lot. I have worked too many places where practically every morning I had to go on a scavenger hunt to find my stuff on other people’s desks. Some things I never saw again. I also had purchased things like sturdy staplers, tape dispensers, pens, etc that I liked, because the office issue ones were usually junk. My desk at this particular job had a drawer that locked, and that’s where my personal stuff was put when I wasn’t there. The other people complained that I didn’t share. Well, my supervisor knew they were always in each others’ desks, and had tried to not only get into mine, but my supervisor’s also, as well as other coworkers like me who didn’t agree to that free for all, so it’s not like they kept it within their own group—-without permission. So she was just as sick of it as they were. She defended my position that, if I didn’t want people walking off with my stuff—-that I needed to do my job—-then that was my right, and the borrowers in the office needed to start stocking their own d**n desks instead of grabbing off of other people’s desks anyway! The rampant “borrowing” pretty much ended there, and that group was finally no longer in and out of everyone’s desk. I still locked my stuff up before leaving for the day, because I simply did not trust them.
Patricia Grande 8 months ago
The one commenter that said she was TA is probably Lisa herself or a relative of Lisa. If that’s not the case, then the commenter is a thief like Lisa.
JayWantsACat 8 months ago
I'd just straight up tell her that she can no longer borrow things since she doesn't return them and get huffy when I ask for my own belongings back. She'll probably respond with "It's not that serious" because that's how every idiot responds to anything now. And then I'll "yeah, it's not, so why aren't you able to return them on your own?"
WakandaPanda 8 months ago
Once when I was working in the South of the UK I loaned a camera lens to a young guy to try it out, each time I asked for it back he kept asking me to sell it to him. One of his colleagues suggested to him it was probably not a good idea to mess with me (I grew up in Liverpool and we have a certain reputation !).
KatSaidWhat 8 months ago
Ha, my former office mate would always use my stuff on the pretext of her going to the basement to replace later - she was a Lisa until one day I said "do I look like a Rymans?"... that was when she realised I was done with her and finally actually took herself to the basement. She is 62 and claimed she couldn't change a printer cartridge and I am being ageist - no, felicia, you have had an extra decade on this earth - you're incompetent and lazy. She learned how to change the cartridge when I just ignored it - I rarely print, she was going through a ream a week. She got fired several times but finally it came down to lawyers before she finally left. She had been trying to trap her boss with recordings and I realised she was doing that to me too. when I did, I reminded her it's illegal to record people without their knowledge and that it would be inadmissible anyway. She left on a Friday and I was told on the Monday. She never said gooodbye, so I booted her form the group chat.
Funhog 8 months ago
"..but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire..." -Milton
Jonathan Setter 6 months ago
growing up i never wanted to lend anything of mine in the classroom. Number 1, they should have their own, it is not my fault they didn't. Number 2, and more importantly, if i leant it to someone they then passed it around the whole feckin room and the last few didn't even know who it belonged to. Getting stuff back was problematic and meant i had to talk to people i did not even like, all an awful hurdle for a kid on the autism spectrum. It was really bad if it was something like glue or stapler as all these people were using up your consumables and not paying a cent for them.
Denise B. 8 months ago
What I THINK is that this chintzy company needs a designated Power Station with outlets, extra (and good!) chargers for employees, and various size cords.
Betsy S 8 months ago
Why? These are adults. They are old enough to be responsible for their own belongings and to ensure their phone is charged for the day, if they expect to need it that day. Personally, I was quite glad at my last job that cell phones were not permitted onsite. We had to leave them in our cars. Much less drama.
Load More Replies... Paul C 8 months ago
I don't understand this. If someone asks to borrow my charger, the answer is "sure, leave me your phone, I'll tell you when it's done." If someone wants their phone charged, they would have no problem. If someone wants your charger, they might. We've all dealt with family or friends or work colleagues who "borrow" things with no intention of returning them. As the Bard once said, neither a burrower nor a lentil be. Or something like that. :-)
The Other Guest 8 months ago
Consider this to be 100 extra upvotes for making me laugh at 6am. Now I'm gonna be humming "Neither a burrower nor a lentil be" to the tune they used for musical Hamlet on Gilligan's Island.
Load More Replies... Tabitha 8 months ago (edited)
At one job, my coworkers had a tendency to go into each others’ desks to borrow stuff. Now, the group of them didn’t mind it, and agreed to let each other do it, but I minded a lot. I have worked too many places where practically every morning I had to go on a scavenger hunt to find my stuff on other people’s desks. Some things I never saw again. I also had purchased things like sturdy staplers, tape dispensers, pens, etc that I liked, because the office issue ones were usually junk. My desk at this particular job had a drawer that locked, and that’s where my personal stuff was put when I wasn’t there. The other people complained that I didn’t share. Well, my supervisor knew they were always in each others’ desks, and had tried to not only get into mine, but my supervisor’s also, as well as other coworkers like me who didn’t agree to that free for all, so it’s not like they kept it within their own group—-without permission. So she was just as sick of it as they were. She defended my position that, if I didn’t want people walking off with my stuff—-that I needed to do my job—-then that was my right, and the borrowers in the office needed to start stocking their own d**n desks instead of grabbing off of other people’s desks anyway! The rampant “borrowing” pretty much ended there, and that group was finally no longer in and out of everyone’s desk. I still locked my stuff up before leaving for the day, because I simply did not trust them.
Patricia Grande 8 months ago
The one commenter that said she was TA is probably Lisa herself or a relative of Lisa. If that’s not the case, then the commenter is a thief like Lisa.
JayWantsACat 8 months ago
I'd just straight up tell her that she can no longer borrow things since she doesn't return them and get huffy when I ask for my own belongings back. She'll probably respond with "It's not that serious" because that's how every idiot responds to anything now. And then I'll "yeah, it's not, so why aren't you able to return them on your own?"
WakandaPanda 8 months ago
Once when I was working in the South of the UK I loaned a camera lens to a young guy to try it out, each time I asked for it back he kept asking me to sell it to him. One of his colleagues suggested to him it was probably not a good idea to mess with me (I grew up in Liverpool and we have a certain reputation !).
KatSaidWhat 8 months ago
Ha, my former office mate would always use my stuff on the pretext of her going to the basement to replace later - she was a Lisa until one day I said "do I look like a Rymans?"... that was when she realised I was done with her and finally actually took herself to the basement. She is 62 and claimed she couldn't change a printer cartridge and I am being ageist - no, felicia, you have had an extra decade on this earth - you're incompetent and lazy. She learned how to change the cartridge when I just ignored it - I rarely print, she was going through a ream a week. She got fired several times but finally it came down to lawyers before she finally left. She had been trying to trap her boss with recordings and I realised she was doing that to me too. when I did, I reminded her it's illegal to record people without their knowledge and that it would be inadmissible anyway. She left on a Friday and I was told on the Monday. She never said gooodbye, so I booted her form the group chat.
Funhog 8 months ago
"..but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire..." -Milton
Jonathan Setter 6 months ago
growing up i never wanted to lend anything of mine in the classroom. Number 1, they should have their own, it is not my fault they didn't. Number 2, and more importantly, if i leant it to someone they then passed it around the whole feckin room and the last few didn't even know who it belonged to. Getting stuff back was problematic and meant i had to talk to people i did not even like, all an awful hurdle for a kid on the autism spectrum. It was really bad if it was something like glue or stapler as all these people were using up your consumables and not paying a cent for them.
Denise B. 8 months ago
What I THINK is that this chintzy company needs a designated Power Station with outlets, extra (and good!) chargers for employees, and various size cords.
Betsy S 8 months ago
Why? These are adults. They are old enough to be responsible for their own belongings and to ensure their phone is charged for the day, if they expect to need it that day. Personally, I was quite glad at my last job that cell phones were not permitted onsite. We had to leave them in our cars. Much less drama.
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