April 4, 2007
‘I suspect my office cleaner has stolen my shoes’
Dear Lucy,
A week ago I spotted our office cleaner wearing an unusual pair of Nike shoes that are exactly the same as a pair I own. I had left mine in a pile under my desk but when I looked they were gone. I don’t have any proof (I might have left them on the train), I don’t care much about the shoes and I don’t really want to get the guy in trouble. But I don’t want him cleaning the office any more in case anything valuable goes missing. What should I do?
Financial PR, male, 35
Please post your occupation, gender and age with replies - names and email addresses are not required. The best answers will be published in the Financial Times.
If you think the guy is desperate enough to steal - and wear - your used trainers, perhaps you should ensure he gets paid more - not fired.
Posted by: N. Burroway | April 4th, 2007 at 12:53 pm | Report this commentCredit your cleaner with some intelligence. Put yourself in his shoes (!), and ask yourself: would YOU would return to the scene of the theft, parading the swag for your victim to see?
You say you’re not entirely sure you didn’t leave the shoes on the train. You have to be 100% sure, before getting into any confrontation. Ask at your station’s lost-property office: miracles can happen.
Editor, male, 34
Posted by: Steve Hillyard | April 4th, 2007 at 1:58 pm | Report this commentUnless he’s a bad cleaner, there are clearly no grounds to fire him and it would not be fair anyway. You haven’t got a leg (or a shoe!) to stand on. Personal items should be left at the owner’s risk as sadly there is always the potential for them to be stolen by colleagues as well as cleaners. It’ll have to be a lesson to all of us to be more cautious about leaving portable valuables around. What else is there of value to steal in the office? I’ve got a small lockable filing cabinet under my desk (but I never lock it….)
Analyst, 30, female
Posted by: A. Anderson | April 4th, 2007 at 2:19 pm | Report this commentThis calls for a reverse Cinderella approach.
Posted by: Recruiter, Male, 37 | April 4th, 2007 at 5:06 pm | Report this commentHave your collegues restrain the cleaner, remove a shoe from him, try it on yourself. If it fits I hope that you’ll both be very happy together.
Be reasonable. A million people throw away their used stuff .. a million others use it!
Posted by: Accountant, female, 29 | April 5th, 2007 at 5:26 am | Report this commentMaybe your cleaner felt sorry for your trainers and their obvious lack of use and is keeping them warmed up for the next time they are “treated” to a gym visit? The man clearly thinks outside the box and should move employment from Support Services into Financial PR….
Posted by: Male, 32 Corporate Financier | April 5th, 2007 at 9:12 am | Report this commentHave him arrested. Persuade the police to run DNA checks on the shoes and any other items that he doesn’t hold receipts for. Then bask in your glory as the guardian of office footwear while he loses his job.
Alternatively buy a new pair of shoes and remember not to leave anything valuable in the office.
Posted by: Director, male, 32 | April 5th, 2007 at 10:41 am | Report this commentI would congratulate the cleaner on his resourcefulness in utilising a clearly wasting asset (at same time i hope his hours taken to move around and clean your office have been drastically reduced). Then in your shoes (or not) i would either cancel my gym membership or seek help for my shoe fetish….
Posted by: Hugh, 32 Corporate Financier | April 5th, 2007 at 11:32 am | Report this commentTalk to the guy! You have no choice since you suspect the guy having stolen your Nikes and no police resources to investigate. You only can find out by asking the office cleaner whether or not he stole your pair of Nikes. Then “listen” between the lines of his answer: if you find out he’s innocent let loose your false accusation. If you find out he has stolen your Nikes but denies it, let go since you have no usable proof.
Posted by: Teacher for Economics, 42 | April 5th, 2007 at 12:22 pm | Report this commentBeing innocent, he will forgive you for having asked. Being guilty, taking him to task works as a strong sign, telling him that office staffs do not tolerate thievery.
Tell the cleaner that you used to have a pair similar to those shoes and they were manufactured incorrectly with a metal spike in the sole. Offer to show them where it is as it may hurt them. As they take the shoe off for you to inspect, check the size, lace tying method and any unique identifying characteristics. If they look like yours then you know to take precautions. HTH
Posted by: PaulW | April 5th, 2007 at 12:38 pm | Report this comment38 programmer
Tell the cleaner that you used to have a pair similar to those shoes and they were manufactured incorrectly with a metal spike in the sole. Offer to show them where it is as it may hurt them. As they take the shoe off for you to inspect, check the size, lace tying method and any unique identifying characteristics. If they look like yours then you know to take precautions. HTH
Posted by: PaulW | April 5th, 2007 at 1:07 pm | Report this commentTalk to the guy! You have no choice since you suspect the guy having stolen your Nikes and no police resources to investigate. You only can find out by asking the office cleaner whether or not he stole your pair of Nikes. Then “listen” between the lines of his answer: if you find out he’s innocent let loose your false accusation. If you find out he has stolen your Nikes but denies it, let go since you have no usable proof.
Posted by: Teacher of Economics, male, 42 | April 5th, 2007 at 1:23 pm | Report this commentBeing innocent, he will forgive you for having asked. Being guilty, taking him to task works as a strong sign, telling him that office staffs do not tolerate thievery.
Do not under any circumstances accuse him, especially without any proof. Actually, considering that you don’t have any proof - by your own admission, you think that you may have left the shoes on the train - you are being rather quick to jump to conclusions. I wonder if this is more of a personal grudge against the poor cleaner, rather than a real concern about theft of valuables?
29, Accountant, Female
Posted by: Anonymous | April 5th, 2007 at 1:31 pm | Report this commentNo chance you can say anything. The office is always open season, and even new stuff left in a pile can ‘plausibly’ be deemed rubbish. You need a lock, not a new cleaner. Your thought that you can ask he no longer clean your office without raising questions that will get him into trouble is daft.
Consultant, Male, 58
p.s. The comment from Mr. Hillyard above is a bit naive. The cleaner might be part of a growing phenomenon: Too Dumb to be a Criminal, and just lucky this time the victim is too unsure or conflicted to report it.
Posted by: Alan Rohrbach | April 5th, 2007 at 6:48 pm | Report this commentTHINK. A guy mopping floors as his second (or third) job can’t afford to lose that job over a lousy pair of shoes. He’s got family to support, and your shoes won’t get them fed. The times I’ve seen petty theft blamed on the cleaning staff, it turned out to be a colleague with a screw loose. Perhaps the guy who actually stole them threw them away because they weren’t cool enough or didn’t fit well enough.
Posted by: Programmer, male, 48 | April 7th, 2007 at 2:42 am | Report this commentOnly accuse someone until you’re 100% sure! Buy a new pair (it’s only about 100 quid or so). Believe me in hindsight this will cost you far less than losing your conscience over accusing someone inappropriately!
Posted by: Anonymous | April 10th, 2007 at 4:18 pm | Report this commentIt isn’t the shoes that are the worry. It is other things in the office.
A colleague of mine had a similar problem. He set up a monitoring camera in his office and captured the offender going through all manner of items in the office before stealing something of value.
Posted by: John | April 10th, 2007 at 5:18 pm | Report this commentWe should also consider the remote possibility that the cleaner found your shoes left on the train.. Finders keepers, or sweepers as the case may be.
Posted by: Bubba Jones | April 11th, 2007 at 6:39 am | Report this commentStrike up a conversation with the cleaner about his trainers and tell him that you used to have a similar pair but they had exacerbated a mild attack of athlete’s foot into a level of fungal infection worthy of the most talented Olympic competitor.
57, Retired, Male
Posted by: ironybrew | April 19th, 2007 at 12:13 pm | Report this commentGet another one….. leave the cleaner alone and get a life.
Posted by: Pooch | January 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pm | Report this comment