THE CHAIR HEIST

On day four of a new sales job, a coworker was sitting in a chair that did not belong to him, a Herman Miller Aeron worth $1,800, and refused to give it back.

The poster had just started at a company that sold access control systems and CCTV. The office chair in the cubicle was miserable, so on day three they brought in their own personal chair. It was comfortable, expensive, and unmistakably theirs.

Then it vanished.

By the next day, another sales rep was in the seat, acting like it had always been his. When the poster asked for it back, the reply was blunt: "F off."

The poster took the problem to the owner of the company. The answer came back just as casually. The owner said the chairs were "first come first serve" and told the new hire, "You need to come in earlier if I want that chair."

The poster pushed back and explained the obvious part: "I OWN the chair and it cost me $1800." The owner still did nothing.

So the chair stayed where it was, and the next day the same employee was back in it again.

That was when the poster gave a warning: return the chair or the police would be called. The employee refused.

The poster called the cops.

When police arrived, the employee admitted he had taken the chair. The poster produced the receipt and the serial number to prove ownership. The chair was not company property. It was theirs.

Then came the question of charges. The police asked whether the poster wanted to press them. The new boss jumped in and said the poster would be terminated if the employee was arrested.

The poster did not hesitate. "Absolutely! I want to press charges!"

The boss fired them on the spot.

The poster walked out carrying the chair back out of the building, while police arrested the employee who had taken it. According to the poster, the man had worked in the industry for about 15 years, and the arrest would cost him his security license and his job.

As the poster put it afterward: "He shouldn't have stolen my chair."