This happened four years ago, and I still think about it almost every day.
I worked in an IT department for 8 years, and part of my job was managing company assets. There was a TV in storage that hadn’t been used for years. Nobody ever mentioned it, nobody cared about it—at least that’s what I told myself.
So I decided to take it home.
But I didn’t just take it quietly. I made up a story and filled out a request form saying I was moving the TV to a supplier’s location. A complete lie. The truth is, I was taking it home for myself. I created that fake excuse to make it seem legitimate, and I handed the form in like everything was fine.
The guard saw me taking the TV, took a picture, and reported it. That’s how it got exposed. Everything escalated fast. It became a big issue in the company. I returned the TV within a few days, but the damage was already done.
At the time, I was so defensive. I told myself, “It’s just a TV. What’s the big deal?” I felt like people were overreacting and gossiping unnecessarily. But in truth, I had lied, manipulated the system, and broken trust.
My boss was disappointed. They didn’t say much—they just ended my contract quietly. I didn’t get a chance to explain. I lost the job, and even worse, I lost all my friends there. People cut me off, unfollowed or blocked me on social media. No one reached out, no one asked what really happened. I became the center of gossip, even among people who had already left the company.
I know what I did was wrong. I was manipulative. I was persistent. I thought I could get away with it. And now, years later, it still haunts me. I miss my coworkers—not even one person in particular, just the group moments, the laughter, the feeling of belonging.
I didn’t take the TV because I needed it. I think I just wanted a small win. A sense of control. Something that felt like mine in a job where I felt invisible.
I regret it deeply. And I don’t know if people ever really forgive you for something like this. But I needed to get it off my chest.
Comments
Lol blocked on social media
People are turds
You must live in Germany or some country like that cause no one cares about this petty stuff around me
I know a guy who got fired for stealing a TV. He was a douche and a bigamist who gave up a $75K+ a year job over a shitty 35″ TV. We couldn’t believe it even if TVs were still pricey back then. His life crumbled after that, and he became one of the running jokes in that shop for years after.
Sometimes you just have to put the past in the past and move on. Good luck in the future.
I once had the opportunity to quietly take $3500 of prepaid Amazon gift cards without a single person knowing. A manager left, I was clearing up his hardware before vultures came in, and I opened his cabinet to find them.
I was so so tempted to take them because, I mean it’s $3500. But my manager had, two years prior, told me those card numbers were tracked because someone else had stolen them right off a delivery cart. I thought about it and decided I liked my job and preferred getting paychecks.
You learned a hard lesson.