I (17) work at a chain restaurant deli as a cook and I would work six hour shifts right after high school. I wouldn’t get home until around 10 pm many nights that I worked and I often didn’t eat or have time for a snack in between lunch time and 10.
Anyways, many of my coworkers who were also students would occasionally make sandwiches for themselves and eat them when they were slow. Many times it was out of bread we weren’t gonna use so it was not a big deal in terms of waste. Seeing this I thought to myself that it was okay to grab a snack or a sandwich when I was hungry. There was also baskets of cookies and other sweets in the front of the store for customers to buy, which many employees would grab one and walk out after a closing shift.
One night after closing the store, I grabbed a cookie and left. When I arrived next for my shift, my manager asked to talk to me in the office with the assistant manager. I got lectured for half an hour that I was essentially “stealing from the company” and how they have a zero tolerance policy for that. I sat there angry and confused but took the verbal reprimand quietly. They told me that they had security footage of me doing it and that they could terminate my employment because of it. I felt super guilty and told them I thought it was fine since I was hungry and they didn’t seem to care but they let me off with a verbal warning.
The rest of that shift was unpleasant and I did not feel like talking to anyone. I didn’t rat out anyone or blame anyone but a part of me feels like I was targeted by management because I am new. Others do it blatantly obvious with no attempt to hide it. I don’t think I will ever forget that moment. My coworkers think that it’s absurd I was almost fired for this cookie scandal but I’m too tired to think about it.