I saw a guy I work with stealing something from the place where we're working. Turns out he'd been stealing various items over the course of a week. Another guy stole something else, I found out, and the alarm went off when he took it out the door. I squealed on the first guy as soon as it happened a few days ago, then he admitted to me that he stole the other things. Being that he's from south of the border, maybe the rules are different back home. He's here sucking the country dry of all the financial, health and education benefits, then stealing anything he wants from the people who are putting food on his table, and he doesn't think it's wrong.

The other guy ripped something off last night. He looks like a career criminal anyway, but you give a guy the benefit of the doubt, he can't help what he looks like.

I reached my limit. For two days after I found out the first guy was a habitual thief and told the boss about it, I had to work right with him. I didn't want to associate with him at all, didn't want to be around him, and sure didn't like having to leave my tools around him. He kept borrowing tools and taking hardware out of my bag when I was off getting material. I was hoping one of my tools would come up missing so I could take him outside. It was pretty upsetting to me to have to work among thieves. I didn't realize how my face betrayed how I felt inside until people said, "What's wrong?" I tried to appear normal on the outside, but it wasn't working too well I guess.

I circumvented my foreman, since nothing was happening and I kept having to work side by side with the biggest offender. I talked to the big boss at the office after finding out about the 2nd guy. We're going to lose the whole contract, which just recently doubled, if these thieves are caught by the customer. I don't want to work anywhere near them ever again!

I feel bad about having to do it. I don't want to be a squealer. Few things get me riled up like a thief, and sometimes I feel like I should have forced them to apologize and give the money to cover the stolen items to the manager of the place they stole from. They're lucky I didn't call the police!

I'm sure some of you will think I'm bad for ratting them out, but I wonder how many here just can't stand a thief, and have no tolerance for them.

If they confront me when I go back to work, I guess I'll have to mop the parking lot up with them. That's better than calling the police on them for a slap on the wrist, don't you think? Ah, street justice. Gotta love it.



[This message has been edited by Spark Master Flash (edited 09-06-2003).]

take a 2 ft piece of 1" rigid conduit and beat both of their brains out onto the ground. or, tie them up and stuff them into a garbage can and let the city do the rest.

After hearing stories about crews working the south side and projects of Chicago, where a guy once had a generator lifted while he was up in the bucket of his truck, I engrave my name on everything. My skilsaw and chainsaw look like ads for me.

Maybe the "WTF" is over the nature of the item. Leftover connectors and couplings in your rough in pouch is one thing, but I get the distinct feeling that's not what we're talking about here...

(Of course, you ever try to walk off a job site with a reel of 6awg cu tucked under your Carhartts? It's a lot of work to be a thief today! )

[This message has been edited by DougW (edited 09-06-2003).]

Not me, I salute you.


You have my backing here too, and a furthernote, I don't have much use for a liar either.

Roger

Spark Master Flash,

rat them out. !!!

take them down and sort them out,

I will not put up with a thief or a liar.

You steal from me, my jobsite, my family and or friends, workmates, the customer and i will personally take you down.

just tell him that, and see what the man? has to say.


John

Four weeks ago, while talking with the officer that took my tool theft and tire slashing report, I tried to make light about the situation by quipping that the theft "was part of the inner-city dance."

She looked at me and said, "It shouldn't be."

I got it. . .clear as a bell.

The only way it stops is if we stop it.

Targetshootr, it's funny that you say that. Do you know me? I just had the sprinkler guys make me a 2 foot piece of pipe with a sprinkler head on the end. As many times as I've hit my head on those things, my new weapon should have them begging for mercy.

Hang on a minute guys!,
Sure a thief is a thief and I can't stand thieves or liars either, but I would most certainly not put myself in the same league as them by using violence to sort this problem out.
I'm behind you 100% on ratting on those guys, workplace theft, especially from a customers home, is really scraping the bottom of the barrel!.
I most definitely would have rung the Police.

If I am aware of others doing it, I act to stop it. If, in my act to stop it, I do a crime, I have not stopped it, but added to it.

sparkmaster, that thing sounds painful.

trumpy, i dont condone violence against thieves, i only encourage it. lol

i have been on the receiving end of that particular trade more times than i want to remember and nothing ever happens to em. 18 months ago we caught a guy who had broken into a rental house and the cops wrote him a ticket and let him go. of course i'll never get reimbursed for the damage.

its no wonder the sopranos is is such a popular program. dose guys have an effective system.

I guess that's why cops sometimes jail people - to save them from the citizens who will put a real hurting on them!

I'm not going to hit them with my weapon of doom*.

If they try to confront me, I'm not going to play any games with them. No words. Just action. I've done all the talking I'm going to do. At this point, they don't know me, and don't know my history, or what I'm capable of. I am thrilled to think that they might want to try to intimidate me, or get rowdy in some way. If they don't come with the right attitude, they'll have it when I get done with them.

I've had things stolen from me recently - a toolbox full of tools, a screwdriver, my truck was broken into and all my tapes and a CD player was stolen. This is my golden opportunity - I caught some thieves. All the rage I've felt over thieves can come to a head on their heads. Now they are at my mercy. They better be ready for me. They have no idea what I've been through. They've never learned a strong lesson about stealing, and they'll never learn it as long as people play patty-cake with them.

Beware, thieves - you might run into somebody like me sometime. Look out for that sprinkler head! Could make for a nasty cut!

* - unless things get a mite nasty

3' of 3/4" rigid works just fine to persuade the thief to leave and not come back. Better yet is several coworkers all using the same tool to persuaade the jerks to never want to come back.
The police can have what if anything is left.
Personally I hate thieves.

So, nesparky, you think it will work just fine without a sprinkler head on it? I thought that sprinkler head really set the whole piece off. It's like art.

FWIW, mine is about 1 1/2 inch diameter pipe, 1/4" thick walls, threaded on the business end to accommodate a thick steel piece that the sprinkler head threads into.

I was thinking, what if they take it away from me? Then my masterpiece might get sold on the underground like so many other pieces of fine art.

I can smear Vaseline on the last 12 inches of my sprinkler head pipe, hold it out to them and let them try to grab it, then yank it through their thieving hands until the sprinkler head opens them up to other choices in the future.

The sprinkler guy who made it for me said, "Now don't hit anybody in the head with that thing, you'll leave the sprinkler head stuck in their head." That's when I considered bolting a 3 inch carbide tipped blade from a biscuit joiner onto the end. That won't break off without working up a sweat.

In some countries, they just saw a guy's hands right off. They'd be getting off light with me. But wait - I do have a nice, sharp sheetrock saw!

[This message has been edited by Spark Master Flash (edited 09-06-2003).]

Spark Master Flash:

I hear you loud and clear. You certainly sound more than frustrated.

What irks me is that today people are so quick to sue in court; the victim can have fewer rights than the perp!

As to the violent response, it's good to bear in mind that you have a lot more to lose than that loser whom you wish to introduce to your "piece pipe." (You know, take a piece out of him...)

I've had it with the teenagers around here who like to sashay down the street trying car doors along the way.

It's fun to think out loud, but I'm not that crazy. However, I do have the Sprinkler Head ready to swing into action, even though I don't believe I need it to get the job done.

You know, ThinkGood, if you had a Sprinkler Head like mine and went out and clubbed the snot out of those who try the car doors, they might cool it. They'll think you're crazier than they are and they might steer clear. Then again, they might come back and kill you. My advice would be, "Don't miss." Then I might add, "Tread not lightly."

Freedom comes with a price, and thieves go against the American way of life, which is earning it. Stealing is wrong, and when thieves feel it isn't, they'll steal and steal until somebody gets it through their thick skulls that it's not acceptable behavior. Maybe it will take more than one session. A speaker once said something about a "Significant Emotional Event" to promote positive change in a person. If the thief is subjected to such a Significant Emotional Event that he might never forget it, that could effect a change that makes life better for everybody who he ever makes contact with.

If these guys will steal from the paying customer, the people paying their bills, who will they NOT steal from? I cringe to think of the trail of broken hearts of people who found that their belongings were stolen and never knew it was one of these two thieves, and how many more broken hearts there will surely be. I'll try to be civil, but if they get belligerent with me for ratting them out and I wind up beating one or both of them unmercifully, they'll get what they deserve.

They want rights? I think they need and deserve more than that, ThinkGood - how about a few lefts? Wouldn't want to get arm-weary with the power hand, or to telegraph any punches - maybe going southpaw would work pretty well...great idea. Thanks, I'll remember to use it on them if things get out of hand.

i guess another question that needs asking, is who hired these guys, and what does he have to say about their "activities"? if he doesnt do something about the situation, fire them, proscecute them, hang 'em by their scrotums from a strut rack, or whatever; then he's no better than they are, and i for one would wash my hands of any association with him, as well. God, i hate a thief............

dana_tech, the boss told me to let him handle it from his end, and I have the distinct feeling that both of those guys are out of there. He said they have no tolerance for that kind of thing. I'll find out when I get to work if they're still there. I'd kind of hate to see them go just yet, hopefully they'll get lippy and then they'll get what they need.

I think I'll go watch "Open Range" again to get me in the mood to clean house.

nesparky, I doubt that my co-workers would back me up, even though they can hold their own, and if I asked, they probably would - but I'm not even going to ask them to back me up. I'd hate to depend on them. This is a task I'll take on willingly by myself, and I know in my heart that I can handle it. It would be nice if they'd back me up, but since I was the one who actually saw the first one steal something, I'm the only one who knows for sure about him. Another guy saw the other thief, and I don't think he'll do anything. It's up to me to take action.

The reason I suggested a piece of 3/4 rigid is 1) it's usally availble on a lot of industrial/commercial jobs, and 2) after you are done with the counselling session, you can use it in your next pipe run after wiping it off.

It only takes one thief to turn a good jobsite into a nightmare- every time you temporarily misplace something, you start doubting your buddies!
Assuming that you're working in an "at will" atmosphere, you are known by the company you keep- and I'd move on if robbin' hood isn't dumped pronto. Crime only thrives where it is tolerated.

You could grab him take him out to the county zipwrap him naked to a chain link fence.Take a piano wire with a slipnot put it around his $@%%$ back the car up pop the trunk and tie the other end to the latch.With one guy reving the engine the other TWANGS the piano wire.Calmly explain to him the next time you will drive away.Cut him down and make him walk home naked.He will now run away screeming when ever he sees you on the street.You know Im kidding right.I would never acually do this.But it has been done and belive me more than one punk kid has staightened out his life due to this 30min intervention.It not the kill but the thrill of the hunt.

[This message has been edited by frank (edited 09-09-2003).]

Not at all. Turn 'em in, and let them get what's coming to them.

People have to place trust in the people they let into their homes to do jobs. These sort of good-for-nothings betray that trust and only serve to get all tradesman a bad name.

ElectricAl:
"If I am aware of others doing it, I act to stop it. If, in my act to stop it, I do a crime, I have not stopped it, but added to it."

There's a legal term for this that's also well-known in the Human Resource world: collusion. From www.m-w.com online dictionary: secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose

If you know an offense occured or is occuring and you do nothing about it, you're on the verge of being an accomplice to it.

I say "Rat 'em out! and Run 'em off if possible!" The downside to that is that they'll set up their operation elsewhere as I believe their habit of stealing is deeply ingrained and not likely to change without a compelling reason or some EFFECTIVE rehabilitation.

No they're not. Let's not turn this into another "my country vs. your country" fan-dan-go.

South of the border, you steal from your boss, you get your *** kicked off the job. It's that simple.

Hell...it's probably even worse. They might even call the cops on the crook _after_ the bossman punches his lights out. (OK I may be exaggerating there a bit).

Good for you for telling on him.

However, regardless of what others here say, do not (DO NOT!) attempt any physical violence.

(I'm a pretty hot-headed guy and I have to try real hard to keep myself under control when something like that happens, so I know from what I speak - since I hear it all the time. No, thank God I've never been in gaol)

Otherwise YOU, sir, will run the risk of being arrested for assault and battery and if you do it on the job, losing your job (not a good thing in this economy). Bossman don't put up with no knuckle-dustin on the job, that's f'shore.

Tell your boss what you see. End of story.

Ball's in his court as to what (if anything) he wants to do.

Period.

And as for all of you other fellow hot-heads encouraging physical altercations, consider this: Would you do it yourself and risk losing your job, getting thrown in jail, getting YOURSELF hurt instead and eventually, having the crook turn around and sue you for what you did to him?

Take it from THIS hothead. It AIN'T WORTH IT!!

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 09-10-2003).]