This Friday I was working at a law firm office I've been working for a year at. Some of the people don't like me there because I complained about one of the co-workers harassing me to the point where it was humiliating and causing me to be a nervous wreck, but it's been good for a long time after that. Well, some of them have been treating me even more rude than usual the last few weeks. I thought it was nothing until my boss confronted me saying that someone's been taking the stuff that I share my desk with. Candy and popcorn, and everyone apparently blames me. I completely panicked when she told me and insisted I didn't take it. I don't even like that candy. She then questioned me about taking the popcorn, which is microwavable and the candy, large bag is about 1-2 dollars, and the popcorn most three dollars for six bags. She then gave me this massive lecture about not taking stuff from other people. Words can't describe how upset I am that not only is it all over the office and believed, but even my own boss, who I like dearly and has been great. Believes them and is accusing me of stealing them. We work with all high-security stuff, date of births, social security numbers, stuff like that. It's killing me. I need this job badly. I can only earn 200 a week due to my health care and am suffering from minor level skin cancer, and this job lands everything perfectly. It also has given me a massive amount of experience for another job later on. My mom is barely getting enough lately as it is and my dad doesn't give us anything. When I started home, I had a massive panic attack and had to sit down and calm down for several minutes before I could continue. I honestly don't know what to do.
i feel bad for you, i know how it feels to be accused of doing something i didn't do. i was once in this position too when people thought that i stole RAM from where the place i worked. i was also confronted, but the thing you have to find out is who even blamed you and if anybody actually see it happen. because you should NOT be getting in trouble for something you didn't do, especially if someone is just going around making baseless accusations about it. in my case, they dropped the whole thing because no one actually saw me doing anything, and no one could essentially prove anything. i suspect that's the case for you as well, it's probably just some idiot who made a stupid accusation that isn't backed up with any facts. also, in these situations, i find that i'm tempted to bend the truth a little to make my case sound better but do NOT embellish details, you do not want your stories to fall apart because that would just make you look bad. and i know it can be hard to do this but try NOT to get flustered or angry when talking about this situation. try to remain calm by taking deep breathes in these situations, while we just want it to blow over, i think the best thing to do is to speak to your boss again. this is something that needs to be straightened out and i don't think you risk your job on whether or not it blows over. another option is this, most companies have an HR department that you can make a complaint to. from what i heard, HR departments can be pretty useful in resolving conflicts like these. in the end though, you have to find a way for them to take your word for it, because if they don't, there's not much that can be done about it. because i get the feeling there's also no way to prove that it wasn't you who took it either. anyways, that's all i got, i hope that helps even if it's only a little bit. good luck with everything.
We only have about 15 people in the office. And politics run very high in the office, I think I know who's actually taking the candy and popcorn, one of my co-workers who always has that candy at her desk and is eating that popcorn, too. But even if I had proof, she's one of the bosses favorites. And as far as I know, it got passed through the grapevine and she over heard it. Though I do agree with you, Evil. She might've had someone tell her I was taking it. But yeah, I'll talk to her Monday. I was so agitated when she accused me, I wasn't even thinking straight. Thanks, Evil. Anyone else with advice, please let me know. One other thing, my boyfriend has been really ill for two years. And I haven't heard from him for six months. I e-mailed him, and have gotten absolutely no reply yet from him or his family who he promised would let me know if anything happened. I don't even know what to think and added to the other strain going on in my life... It's just beyond words how I feel.
Damn, sounds like you've had a rather rough few years. With your job, I can understand the politics and stuff like that. I would just have to say that you need to talk to these people with a confident attitude. They may be people who dislike opposition and/or they may be impressed by your new found courage. And remeber, as long as you know the truth, it won't really matter in the end what they think. Things have a way of just getting back at people. I am sorry about the skin cancer though; I can't imagine what that's like. And about your boyfriend too. This may be a stressful time for you, and I find it good just to lay out all of your problems to someone your trust. Just have faith that everything is going to be okay. And if it is the worst news about your boyfriend; well at least he's free from his suffering. I bet he misses you too. I'll be sure to keep you in my prayers.
