My Colleague Stole My Custom Lunches for Months, Then Called it a ‘Compliment’
I work in a bustling mid-sized office here in a metro city, and for the past three agonizing months, my lunchbox – my carefully prepared 'ghar ka khana' – kept vanishing from the office fridge. Every single week, I'd head to the break room, only to find my dabba either completely gone or half-eaten. My heart would just sink with frustration.
This wasn't just any lunch. I have specific dietary restrictions, making it impossible for me to just "grab something" from outside or the canteen. So, every Sunday, I dedicate two precious hours to meal prepping. Chopping, cooking, packing – it's a labor of love to ensure I eat healthy and safe food for the week. Knowing that effort was going to waste, week after week, was beyond frustrating; it felt like a personal insult.
At first, I told myself it must be an honest mistake. I mean, who would just *take* someone else's food? I started putting a big sticky note with my name on my dabba. No change. Then, I began packing it in a distinct cloth bag, writing my name with a permanent marker on *every single container* inside. Still, my lunch vanished without a trace. The audacity was baffling.
The annoyance slowly simmered into pure anger. I felt so violated, so disrespected. Three months of this, and my patience was thinner than a papad. I was about to give up and just resign myself to buying expensive, less-suitable food, but then I decided to watch. And I caught her. A colleague from a different team, casually taking *my* dabba. When I confronted her, she just shrugged, offered a dismissive smile, and said, "Oh, it's just so delicious! You should take it as a compliment." A compliment? My hard work, my personal food, stolen for months, and she calls it a *compliment*? I was speechless, boiling with rage. What kind of person does this? And what do I even do now?
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