I Refused to Let My Things Get Stolen at Work—Maybe I Went Too Far

Recently, my parents went on a trip and, knowing my penchant for tea, brought me boxes of really expensive, fancy tea leaves. As usual, I took a box to the office, marking it as mine. It vanished in three days. It would have lasted me a month. I asked around, but no one seemed to know what happened to it. So, I brought another box, and this time I marked it boldly, “Jessica’s Tea: Please do not touch.” I went down the same way, vanishing again. I was really irritated, and to prank the person taking my tea, I made something unforgettable with salt and soy sauce.
© Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels

Two days later, I heard someone gagging and retching in the kitchen and discovered who the thief was. To my shock, it turned out to be my boss, who came out red-faced, demanding to know who had spiked the “office tea.” I kept mum, pretending I knew nothing about what was happening, but since the box was labelled as mine, my boss later told me, in private, that office pranks were absolutely not allowed, and if it happened again, she’d report me to HR.

I wanted to point out that it was my tea, and she wasn’t supposed to take it, but somehow I was tongue-tied. What do you think I should do next to smooth things out, still be able to have my tea, and make it clear that I don’t want to share it?

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