Why do people steal stuff from my office?
I’m not talking about pens. I’ve unintentionally walked off with more pens then I can count over the years, and never realized that I did until later. I figure others do the same with mine.
In the last few years, I’ve had a Far Side cartoon book stolen from the lobby, a stapler off my secretary’s desk, a roll of medical tape from my EMG cart, and a few other items.
Most recently, my secretary bought a candy dish at the store. It was nothing fancy, just a few bucks, but she liked it. She set it out on the front desk with some Jolly Ranchers.
A few days later, she left her desk to refill her coffee cup. While in back she heard the front door of the office open and close. When she returned up front, the dish (and candy) were gone.
None of these are a major financial loss, maybe adding up to $15-$20 a year at most. But it’s irritating to have someone steal something minor from my office.
Taking pens, or even magazines, is perhaps understandable, at times unintentional. But to reach over a desk and grab a stapler, or to walk in, grab a candy dish, and leave, are volitional and just wrong. I don’t understand this. Do people feel that, because I’m a doctor (and therefore stereotyped as rich), I can afford it? Do they do it because, since they’re giving me a copay and letting me bill their insurance, they feel entitled to something back? Or are they angry at me over something, and this is a passive-aggressive way to get even?
I don’t know. Admittedly, it’s a tiny minority who do such things. The vast majority of people wouldn’t dream of stealing a $3 candy dish from an office. But still, it points to a sad level of dishonesty among a few of the routine people I see day in and day out. I’m pretty sure they aren’t so hard up that they need to steal such petty items, either. I imagine the black market value of a used stapler is pretty low.
P.S. If someone out there is willing to return the candy dish or the Beyond The Far Side cartoon book, no questions will be asked.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.
