WWYD re : work colleague

[Mooycow]

So I work in a professional area (a lot of responsibility). Earlier today
I felt a little wooshy (low blood sugar) and I know a fellow colleague has some Pepsi in her drawer, so I helped myself to one , I noticed the cap was already twisted off , but no liquid was missing, drank 1/2 a bottle ,I plan to replace it tom with a little note of thanks .
However that was 1/2 an hour ago , and I feel , well tipsy ?
My question is , how do I approach this ??? I cant prove it was tampered with , or that is has ?alcohol in it ?
Do I approach my colleague and feign ignorance ? Do I report this to a manager ?

Do I report this to a manager ?

Absolutely, I'd want to know if there was a thief working for me.

As an aside, there's a bottle of wine in my desk at the moment, even thought I'm teetotal.

whoops, even though. I promise I'm sober.

I would replace it, with a note of apology. And when you see her mention that it didn't even help with your low blood sugar that much as you still felt woozy, almost drunk-like, afterwards.

Do you work in a job where you use heavy equipment or drive?

As an aside, if you get lows then you could carry a small pack of a sweet that you don't like for times of need. I have a pack of whatever Opal Fruits are now called as I can't stand them so won't be tempted to eat them when I'm just a bit nibbley.

I often tempted to fill my water bottle with gin & tonic. Maybe with some lime in the fruit infuser bit. Brighten my day up no end.

God, sometimes I love mumsnet. The belters that posters come out with brighten up my day!

The cheek of the op.

That is a brilliant idea, I’m off to doctor up a bottle of Pepsi to get me through my 5 period teaching day tomorrow

Pepsi is revolting though, and imo only drinkable when laced with alcohol. So I don't blame your work friend.

Having said that, if it were my stash of real actual proper coke, and a colleague felt faint, I wouldn't mind them helping themselves at all, especially if they were going to replace it. When you're feeling faint and you need a sugar rush, do you feel like hitting the canteen/burger van outside/popping to the nearest shop? I don't. A coke-finding expedition would have been the last thing on my mind.

Did it not smell or taste of alcohol?

And it was a bottle of fizzy drink, not vintage Champagne.

Oooft. You shouldnt have taken it. Replace it. Dont mention it, but maybe watch if she is ok!

You went in her drawer.

You stole her drink.

You "think " the drink contained alcohol.

You now wonder if you ought to report her.

And YOU are the one asking what YOU should do about YOUR work colleague?

Pot.kettle.

Hypoglaecemia (low blood sugar) can effect you long after you've treated it in my experience (I'm diabetic) and if you overdo it (easily done I've found as treating it can cause a big spike)vyou can end up with symptoms of hyperglacemia (high blood sugar) which could account for what you're saying here.

If you're sure it was that then you need to take steps to ensure you can treat such a thing properly in case it happens anywhere e.g. Small carton of fruit juice or small bag of jelly babies in your bag, or make sure you eat regularly.

You should not be risking becoming seriously ill and relying solely on whatever your colleagues might or might not have in their desk.

If you reported this to me I'd take a very dim view of you taking something from someelse's desk without permission and, given my experience, this alone would not be enough for me to believe that the Pepsi had alcohol in it.

So for the future learn how to treat hyperglaecemia yourself and, replace what you stole.

What you did was beyond rude. You have no right to go through colleagues private things in HER drawers. And to take a bottle of Pepsi without asking, in my mind that’s stealing. You ask, don’t take. If you suffer from low blood sugar carry some stuff with you. What would you do if you had this episode outside of work, steal from a shop? You have no reason to report anything or do anything your behaviour is the one that needs watching, if I was your colleague I would report you for stealing

(I worked in a high responbility professional role hence saying what I'd do if you reported this to me).

What would I do? Not take something that didn't belong to me.

We keep the sealant for our oak work units in a coke bottle. It looks just like coke ...

Off topic, but from a safety point of view, this sort of thing is really bad practice.

You should only keep actual drinks in drinks bottles, because there’s always a risk that someone will assume the liquid in them is drinkable and take a swig. Especially if it looks like what’s supposed to be in the drinks bottle at a casual glance.

Your sealant should really be kept in the original container, or at least in a container that’s clearly labelled so any confusion over contents is minimised.

Report to the manager ? that you went through someone else’s things and took something that wasn’t yours ?

Yeah do that.

@UrsulaPandress

I'd love to see the risk assessment for that practice. If anyone other than the person who put it in that bottle has access to it then you'd find yourself in a world of trouble.

I think you should skulk away guiltily and never steal from a work colleague again.

Wow. I always carry something in case my sugar goes low. I would have been extremely pissed if a work colleague helped themselves. No way would I then drink a half drunk bottle and would have had to make a reasonable request to go off-site to go shop, assuming I had any cash on me. (I often went to work without card or cash as they weren't needed as like most people we take what we need).

If you don't know what you have drank l hope you are not driving.

In my company, what you did - going through someone else’s private drawers would get you fired for gross misconduct.

I think you've suspected your colleague of drinking alcohol at work, so you've used the excuse of low sugar levels to nick her Pepsi - from her own drawer - just to test it and now you want us to say you've done the right thing

As PPs have said, if low sugar levels aren't unusual for you, then you'd always carry something with you.

If I'm right, you've gone about this the wrong way - and going through a colleague's drawers of personal belongings isn't going to do you any favours.

I agree with PP, I suspect you went snooping and made up this daft excuse as to why you opened it, who would even do that? You would just get some sugar from the staff room or ask a colleague for something

Yeah it's a bit off. My drawers are open and people know if they need tampons/paracetamol/porridge/tea to help themselves but they wouldn't drink an open drink

I’d be livid if you just took something I kept for my own use without asking! That’s stealing.

Imagine drinking an open bottle from somebody elses drawer thats mankynot envy.

I would have a fit if somebody in my work went through my private drawer.Thats just not on.