Do you take your own lunch to work to try to save money by not eating out? I do, and so do many of my coworkers. In fact, a couple of years ago, we had to buy two new refrigerator freezers to hold all the food that people bring. We also have two microwave ovens, and they are all in a break room not too far from the studio.
In recent months though someone has been taking food that is NOT theirs. Maybe you have heard Karli or myself talking about it on the air.It’s pretty bad when you are starving and go to the freezer just to get a crappy frozen dinner out to tide you over, and it’s gone.
I resorted to taping a penny to the bottom of my frozen dinners. That way, when someone takes it out of the freezer and puts it into the microwave and turns it on they get quite a light show, and are publicly shamed and embarrassed.
I guess the last straw happened recently when a director brought in a slab of ribs to munch on throughout the day. Someone thought they looked pretty good in the fridge and decided they would eat them.
Just like the story of the three bears, employees were constantly asking, “Who ate my porridge.”
Well not any more!
Over the weekend, someone installed a color security camera in the corner of the room – it’s lens focused on the two refrigerator as well as the coffee machine, (oh yes, someone has also been stealing our coffee packets we get from Parisi). The video is one of several cameras that record the every move of cars or pedestrians at each entry point of the station.
Now all those video feeds are on one screen recorded in master control in case there is a need to review them.
We are left wondering how the person reviewing that video can actually distinguish what items were taken out of the freezer/fridge, and who it belonged too? Sure, if someone tries stealing a whole watermelon, if would be discernible. A frozen dinner? Not so.
So I guess I will still have to tape a penny to the bottom of mine.
It’s also good to know that someone cares – not just about the possibility of a terrorist or thug slipping through our security to try to get LIVE on our air, but protecting our BBQ from dishonest co-workers.
Maybe Humphrey Bogart’s character in “The Caine Mutiny” had it right all along. Watch and decide for yourself.