Colleague stole my mug

[NewtMumLife]

Would you take someone else’s mug in the office?!! I had to rescue my mug from someone’s desk which was half filled with cold coffee yesterday and I think it’s really rude to just take someone’s mug without even asking, especially as there are plenty of other mugs they could use. The colleague didn’t even wash it up and didn’t apologise. The mug was a present from my husband. AIBU?

So they didn't steal it, they used it?

Unless your colleague took it out of a drawer in your desk it's not stealing. All mugs in the communal kitchen are fair game. If you don't want others using it lock it away.

I’m not sure I could get worked up enough about this to start an online discussion but as others have said if it was in a drawer it’s a bit rude, if in a communal kitchen then it’s fair game.

Keep mine in my locker, along with eating utensils. Ingrained habit from sharing a kitchen space with men. Gross. Apologies to those men who are hygienic at work.

Yabu for caring enough about a mug to start a thread

If it’s in a communal kitchen then people should use their own mugs or there should be some unbranded. ones to use. However I do think you’re being a bit precious. It’s a mug, being used to hold a drink, it’s not that big a deal. If it’s got a lot of sentimental value I would leave it at home.

I didn't think it would ever happen but here, have my first

Police. NOW.

Well they know it’s not theirs. Bring your own mug.

Mine has pics of my kids all over it. Clearly mine and no-one used it in previous building. I know keep it in a shared locker as no kitchen cupboard shelves anyway.

Don’t take nice mugs to work. They will get stolen. People saying it’s not stealing if someone just uses your mug: if they move it to a different floor and you never see it again, there’s no difference.

I had a similar issue with MY spoon.
In the end I had to put it on a chain and wear it round my neck. I once got mistaken for the Mayor when I had popped out to shops at lunchtime!

I had to rescue my mug from someone’s desk

The colleague didn’t even wash it up and didn’t apologise.

Sound like you ‘rescued’ it before they had a chance to wash it

I wouldn't keep a mug I cared about in the office - I suggest swapping it for one you'd happily get rid of.

Oh, this takes me back. I’m glad I don’t work in an office any more.

An office is not your home, so don’t “decorate” it with your own stuff (photos, mugs whatever) - honestly this is an OTT reaction over just a mug. If it’s that precious to you don’lt bring it from home! I’ve worked in offices with this vibe (and no, I don’t use non-communal mugs) and it creates a horrid atmosphere. You’re there to work.

One of the offices I work out of has a teaspoon permanently chained to the tap in the kitchen so it can be used and washed, but can't be removed 🤣

And yes, mug in your drawer/locker/box under the desk: yours. Mug in the kitchen cupboard: anyone and everyone's.

Dh did this by accidently recently, never had an office job and figured mugs in the cupboard/on the draining board where fair game- ended with some woman screaming at him! I explained thats not how offices work..

Where I used to work the communal mugs were gross, stained and chipped and very unhygienic. I stored my own mug, brought from home, in the female locker room on a shelf along with several others.

Came back to base one day to find some male arsehole drinking out of MY MUG! I was seething inside but simply grabbed the worst mug I could find in the kitchen and poured the culprit coffee into it from my own mug. I did this in total silence in front of 5 others, my crewmate and some other blokes.

Not only had the culprit used an individuals personal mug but he had really overstepped the mark by accessing the female locker room to find it!

Rule of thumb in my office, if its in the cupboard its a general mug free to use.

Everyone keeps "their" mugs on their desk, myself included

STOLE? Dramatic much?

If it's in a shared kitchen, it's for shared use. Do you really expect someone to categories the mugs between company bought ones, one thrrem so no long no one knows you has them, ones with solid ownership rights etc.

If your mug is that precious, keep it with you all the time.

This thread gives me flashbacks to the anxiety I faced in a previous field-based job.

Moving from store to store and making my own coffee in the various canteens, I never knew whether mugs were communal or whether I was about to ruin someone's life.

I eventually left.
Although that was nothing to do with mugs.

She took it out of the dishwasher. Everyone knows at our workplace to only use your own mug though or one of the communal mugs and everyone knows which mugs are the communal mugs as they are company branded (and often chipped too and often stained as people don’t look after them well!!).

Does depend if they took it from the cupboard in the communal kitchen or from your desk. If you keep it in a communal space then you can’t be weird about it getting used.

I think you need to get a mug with your name on it. Very rude though if they knew it was yours.