August 17, 2016January 14, 2018

Dear Lara, There is a thief in my office

Question: I work in a small friendly open plan office somewhere in Victoria Island, Lagos, comprising 6 co-workers, our boss, and myself.
I usually bring along a can of Coke as part of my lunch, and put this in the fridge in the shared office kitchen beside the office area.
For the past few weeks however, I always meet the Coke can empty whenever I am ready to have lunch. I initially figured it’s only a can of Coke afterall, and even found it funny, especially as the culprit always puts the empty can right back in the fridge.
However, it is now getting on my nerves as no one seems to know anything about it, it is starting to become a distraction, and is also making me look foolish.
My amateur detective moves have included randomly going to the kitchen and adjoining toilet, covertly watching my co-workers, listening intently to sounds from the kitchen area etc, all to no avail. -The Case of the Missing Coke

Answer: This is probably one of those Agatha Christie cases right? I can you tell you the answer straightaway then, ‘your Boss did it’!
Seriously though, I strongly suspect this is a running joke in which almost everyone knows the culprit, except you; I don’t know if that makes it any better however, as it might also be a sign that you are possibly not taken seriously in the office.

While you could resign yourself to your fate, and simply stop including the contentious Coke as part of your lunch, that would be admitting defeat prematurely, and I have a little trick you could try, since you mentioned it’s a small office where you can hear loud sounds from the kitchen.

Shake the Coke can before putting it in the fridge, I mean, really shake it, then go back into the kitchen at regular intervals and repeat the process to make sure the gas in the can doesn’t get to settle.

Go back to your desk, and see if there would either be a loud explosion from the kitchen area at some point, or if there would be a co-worker with mysterious brown stains on his/her clothing. Even if you don’t catch them red-handed, it should hopefully make them stop, as no one wants to drink a fizzy drink which can erupt uncontrollably.