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I unofficially worked at a bike shop over the summer holidays. They sold mostly Chinese import pocket bikes and ATV's.

A couple friends also worked there with me. One day my friends friends came by and took two small bikes worth about $300AU each, they rode them straight out the roller door, I didn't tell on them but I think now I definitely should have. Another one went into the bosses office and took a $50 note. He got caught but didn't get in trouble, don't know why, maybe the boss is slack.

so if you plug your personal laptop and personal cell phone and personal PDA in at work and let the batteries charge, then go home and drain the batteries with use, then bring them back to work the next day for a fill up, would anyone consider that stealing?

Theft is theft, big or small.  It is immoral, unethical, and it costs everyone else in the long run.

Anyone who steals small would steal large if given the opportunity.  They are a liability to the company and should be terminated if discovered.

I can see someone taking a complimentary item, such as that in Justine's example, if necessary, but to stock up is just wrong.

macnuke wrote:

so if you plug your personal laptop and personal cell phone and personal PDA in at work and let the batteries charge, then go home and drain the batteries with use, then bring them back to work the next day for a fill up, would anyone consider that stealing?

one of my proffesors had a solar powered house, and winters in vt lack sun.  She used to charge her house battery at work.

TheConfuzed1 wrote:

Anyone who steals small would steal large if given the opportunity.  They are a liability to the company and should be terminated if discovered

Because I print out knitting directions at work once in a while, it means I would steal tapes or equipment as well?

katiePOW wrote:

TheConfuzed1 wrote:

Anyone who steals small would steal large if given the opportunity.  They are a liability to the company and should be terminated if discovered

Because I print out knitting directions at work once in a while, it means I would steal tapes or equipment as well?

Apparently. That post was just stupid. Then again, I wouldn't expect a car salesman to believe that other people are mostly honest.

The heat must be getting to everyone.

I've downloaded some personal stuff at work, but now that I have broadband at home, I don't need to. Previous to that, I did on occasion take my laptop to work for all kinds downloading: updates, software, etc. I'd walk into the office and announce to my boss; "I'm stealing some of your bandwidth today".

Lots of people here probably post at MAF and do other 'unauthorized' web surfing at work without their bosses knowing about it. A little bit of petty larceny is expected at work: paper clips, rubber bands, and my own little sin; the odd postage stamp. It's when the occasional paper clip or photo copy turns into a box of paper clips and a ream of paper is where I would draw the line. Not a firing offense, but a warning would be in order. If it is allowed to go on, it escalates until people are backing their cars up to loading bays, or funnelling funds into personal accounts, a la Office Space.

"My friend" worked at the box office of a movie theater for matinees. The company was too cheap to pay a separate person to rip tickets so he had to do that too. A couple times a day he would make the motions of hitting the buttons and pretend that he picked up the ticket and ripped it but he was really just selling the other half of somebody elses ticket. $5 a pop and there wasn't a soul in the place counting people or stubs. Honestly tho, he didn't do it more than a couplefew times a shift to bump his pay from like $5/hr to 7ish. Bah. Now I just steal ones and zeros.

Funny you should mention that.
We were at a theatre - mom was using credit cards to buy tickets, kids were making noise and she was distracted. The person confirmed the number of tickets, told her the cost, gave her the right number of tickets, mom signed. I looked at receipt - she was charged for two additional tickets.

So mom went back, and told her to correct the problem or she would call the police. The girl said "I don't know how that happened". Mom also called CC company to verify the refund, and told them to deny any further charges from that theatre.

Sure, what the hell. You're already paying like $400 for a family of 4 with sodas and popcorn. Who's gonna notice and extra $20. heh.

Somebody mentioned posting from work. Oh god yeah. I definitely do that.

mtpalms wrote:

Lots of people here probably post at MAF and do other 'unauthorized' web surfing at work without their bosses knowing about it. A little bit of petty larceny is expected at work: paper clips, rubber bands, and my own little sin; the odd postage stamp. It's when the occasional paper clip or photo copy turns into a box of paper clips and a ream of paper is where I would draw the line. Not a firing offense, but a warning would be in order. If it is allowed to go on, it escalates until people are backing their cars up to loading bays, or funnelling funds into personal accounts, a la Office Space.

I wish we had internet at work to abuse.

These days, the line between work and home is blurred more than ever.  I may sometimes take advantage of my work computer and internet connection for personal use, but when at home I often end up using my personal computer and bandwidth for work related stuff.  How many people these days take work calls on a cell phone they aren't reimbursed for?  I think for most professionals, that kind of stuff tends to even out in the end, and both employers and employees tend to benefit from the flexibility.

I had broadband at home BEFORE we had it at work.

I have also used my own flatbed scanner and digital camera for work projects.

Last edited by user (2006-07-17 12:05 pm)