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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not own up to eating the nuggets?

219 replies

NuggieThief · 08/08/2019 13:10

The other day a couple of my workmates got McDonald’s for lunch. They were in the break room whilst I was but finished before me and left all their rubbish on the table. I got up to clear it up and noticed a box of 6 nuggets had been left amongst the mess. I got a bit greedy and demolished them Blush I was due my period and trying really really hard not to eat junk food but I couldn’t resist them. I thought they were not wanted.

Anyway about an hour later my other colleague came back from an appointment and one of the colleagues who had been to McDonald’s said “your nuggets are in the break room”. I then realised they weren’t leftovers at all and I’d eaten my workmates nugs! Sad

I felt really bad but was too scared to say anything and it’s turned into a bit of a witch hunt round the office. The thing is so many people had been into the break room it’s almost impossible to pin it on me. I managed to get into work early the other day, slip £5 into my colleagues desk to cover the nuggets then went out for a coffee and came back to the office at normal starting time.

But people are still going on about who the nugget thief is and the longer it goes on the more worried I am about saying it was me.

Blush
OP posts:
Corrieaddict · 08/08/2019 13:14

If you were going to own up you should have done it straight away.

BykerBykerOoh · 08/08/2019 13:14

Hahaha

Buy yourself a Big Mac, leave it in the kitchen, then sneakily eat it and claim it was stolen too. That should cover you.

MrsGarethSouthgate · 08/08/2019 13:17

If you are desperate to say something, why not say you cleared everything away without realising there was any food left amongst it, and that once you were made aware you left the money out for your colleague to cover the cost.

Optional as to whether you want to stress the point that if your colleagues weren't such untidy bastards leaving their mess for others to clear up, it would never have happened...

MyNewBearTotoro · 08/08/2019 13:17

If the nuggets were literally left amongst all the rubbish that they left for others to clear then I’d just say you cleared up the rubbish and you’re sorry but you might have accidentally thrown the box of nuggets away with the rubbish.

If the nuggets were separated from the rubbish then you were probably unreasonable to eat them but there’s not much to gain by owning up now.

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 08/08/2019 13:18

I cannot imagine eating anything I found amongst rubbish in my break room, but maybe that says more about the people I've worked with...

I think you should have admitted it, apologised and explained straight away - you'd have avoided the disappointment of the workmate finding them gone, and it'd have looked a lot more normal.

I can't think of a way you could own up now and it not look really weird... YABU to let people think there is a food thief and to have not owned up to eating them, but it'll be difficult to resolve it now.

helpmeiamatoad · 08/08/2019 13:19

You should have owned up straight away and gone straight out to replace them. How strange to see someone else’s lunch on a table and decide to ‘demolish’ it!

SomewhereInbetween1 · 08/08/2019 13:19

You can come out of this a hero still. Turn the issue around, confess you were the one to clear up after them because THEY left all their rubbish. Mention there was such a mess of wrappers etc that you simply swept it all in the bin. How were you to know there was a full 6 pack of nuggets in amongst all that mess? If they hadn't have left everything in such a state, the misunderstanding would never have occurred...

doadeer · 08/08/2019 13:20

😂😂😂😂😂

It's awkward now!! You should have said you cleared them away by accident.

Maybe join in nugget hunt and take this secret to your grave!

Original poster
NuggieThief · 08/08/2019 13:21

They weren’t separated from the rubbish which is why I ate them Sad I’m just worried if I own up now people are gonna think, why didn’t you say this when it happened? And I’ll look like a weirdo (I probably am a weirdo).

But also I want the witch hunt to stop, some of the people in my office are being Nancy Drew’s about it and it’s getting a bit crazy

OP posts:
Chickenish · 08/08/2019 13:24

I could see pregnancy as an excuse to be a food nutter, but due on your period Hmm. How about you stop your diet as it is clearly that which is making you crazy?

RandomUsernameHere · 08/08/2019 13:24

It's too late to own up now, just play along! They should have cleared up the rubbish instead of leaving it for you, that way it would have been clear the nuggets weren't leftovers!

TinyMystery · 08/08/2019 13:26

I’d definitely eat unsupervised nuggets 😬😂

Croquembou · 08/08/2019 13:27

Hahahaha - that's amazing, poor you, an innocent nugget theft gone wrong!

Don't say anything, you've left it too long to even say you chucked them by accident. People love something to do in the office that isn't actually work, let them crack on.

Do people randomly buy cake in your office on a Friday? If they do, you could tomorrow. New treats might help them move on, emotionally.

Original poster
NuggieThief · 08/08/2019 13:27

@Chickenish I’m not on a diet but when I’m PMSing I crave salty, fatty food.

OP posts:
MyCatHatesEverybody · 08/08/2019 13:28

So the person whose nuggets they were wasn't one of the colleagues who actually went out to McDonalds, so they might have been left lunchless. And might not have had any more spare cash that day as you didn't return the £5 until a few days later.

I think you need to say something as people are obviously not going to let this drop - pp's suggestion of saying they got cleared away with the rubbish is a good way of excusing it it you don't want to own up fully. Although most people wouldn't think to throw away someone else's food hence the work fridge being clogged up with 2 month old mullerlights.

ClemDanFango · 08/08/2019 13:29

Why didn’t you just buy some nuggets and pin a typed message with Sorry on it and leave them in the break room? Slipping £5 in the desk isn’t going to solve it.

Original poster
NuggieThief · 08/08/2019 13:29

@Croquembou that’s a good idea, I might bake cupcakes tonight and take them in tomorrow.

And yes there are two women in particular that are playing detective, one of them even asked everybody what time they entered and left the break room that day Shock and the other one said it was a good idea so they could narrow down the “pool of suspects” Confused

OP posts:
AmIRightOrAMeringue · 08/08/2019 13:30

I'd stay quiet! No way you can get out of this now. Unless there is CCTV they are not going to be able to get to the bottom of it. Just keep your cool til its died down!

HotChocolateLover · 08/08/2019 13:30

Say nothing. If they wanted the nuggets so badly then they wouldn’t have left them behind. I once ate someone’s lemon drizzle cake thinking it was an office cake, it wasn’t 🤦‍♀️ I never confessed even though there was great outrage. Sorry Sue.

SparklyMagpie · 08/08/2019 13:31

I find this a bit rank, and sad you're using your period as an excuse Hmm

Cleaning up rubbish and eating 6 chicken "nugs"? I
I just see that as being in McDonalds and eating someones left over food within all the crap

Yuck

aoeu · 08/08/2019 13:31

Buy two more boxes of nuggets, sneak them in and leave out. Of course, you stand more chance of getting caught than if you just keep quiet.

Hellocanyouhear · 08/08/2019 13:39

what happened to the fiver?

7salmonswimming · 08/08/2019 13:40

I’d overhear the witch-hunt chat and belatedly make out like that’s the first km hearing of it, “sorry, is this about a random pack of nuggets that was in the break room around lunchtime Monday? I thought they were left by someone, they were in amongst all the rubbish. I threw them out. My mistake, sorry. I’ll buy you another pack. But really, people need to clear up their own mess, you can’t leave your stuff lying around. This is the kind of thing that happens”

CassandraCross · 08/08/2019 13:40

Honestly, OP, why on earth didn't you just say something at the time? You have made the situation 100 times worse when owning up, apologising and offering to reimburse or get some more nuggets would have ended it all there and then. Bringing in the random £5 note has not helped either because it is clearly a sign of a guilty conscience and if it was a simple case of you inadvertently throwing them away whilst clearing up saying so at the time would have been no big deal.

If you want to put an end to this you need to admit that you ate them and own up to the random £5 as well because all you are doing is making the situation worse and feeding into their paranoia and causing everyone to be looked at differently whilst the witch hunt rages on. How would you feel if they decide another person is guilty?

BowiesJumper · 08/08/2019 13:44

I would say - I cleared away all the rubbish (you left!) on the table and maybe I threw them away.