The main issue here is that food thieves don’t even think about the possibility of asking for permission. Look, the simple fact is that many of us are incredibly happy to share food with others. Bonding through cooking/giving/eating food makes us happy. But you’ve got to go through the motions. You can’t just help yourself to something you think we’ll probably agree to.
We’ve covered stories about roommate food thieves countless times here on Bored Panda. Recently, we’ve looked at the extents to which some people go to catch the thieves in the act, after getting frustrated with their ongoing lies. One woman resorted to using a camera to catch the perpetrator red-handed; meanwhile, a guy shared how he switched the milk he drinks to finally prove that his lactose-intolerant housemate was eating at his expense.
The woman, who resorted to using a camera, told Bored Panda earlier that there are a lot of reasons why someone would steal someone else’s food.
“I think there’s a lot of reasons. A lot of the time I think people just do it for convenience or affordability, thinking they won’t get caught. Or, especially in shared houses, people think there won’t be consequences to their actions even if they are caught, as opposed to stealing from a shop or business,” redditor u/Not_entirely_sure_ added that, in some cases, some people might be genuinely desperate and in need of financial support… though that often isn’t the case.
“The best way is by trying to reason with housemates and establishing a shared understanding you won’t take each other’s stuff, but this doesn’t always work,” the woman told Bored Panda. She said that some ways around this issue can be getting separate mini-fridges. However, the best solution is to simply live with friends whom you trust. “Prevention is better than the cure.”
