On Sat, 03 Aug 2013 12:53:52 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:



One day somebody says, "You hear about Joe? Guard caught him with a
load of copper in his lunchbox. Fired."

This Joe guy was a pretty highly paid machinist. Had about 20 years
in, and IH had a sweet retirement program.
I remember thinking WTF?

Companies like it when stories like that get around. Discourages
others from taking the risk.




OTOH, I'm not saying I'm perfect either. Did some of my own thieving
when I was a machine mechanic. Took about 10 each of maybe 3 small
sizes of nuts/bolts. 1/4, 5/16, 3/8. A few different lengths, along
with flat and lock washers for them. Put them in my parts arsenal and
they came in handy over the years. Wasn't the money, as that wasn't a
hill of beans. Just the convenience. Still stealing when you get
down to it.

Many of us have done things like that. I have some brass, SS, and
aluminum nuts and bolts too. Damned handy.

Where I worked we had many fasteners as well as copper fittings. Some
of the fittings were in bins and the little used ones became dull as
they sat for a long time. We'd take two fitting, clean them up and
lay them in the bin of oxidized parts. Next day the tow shiny ones
were gone but the 200 old ones were untouched.



The biggest difference is there was absolutely no risk for me.
It's pretty common for people to steal from the workplace if the
workplace accepts it, or just doesn't police it.
I also copped a staple remover, hole punch, and some manilla folders
from my office jobs. Again, no risk.
Some might call it a job "benefit."
But I'll just admit to thievery in my past. Doesn't bother me much,
but a spade is a spade.

Maybe I'm getting even now. This past year I took a Dremel tool and
shop vac to work for shop use. They were in the way at home.