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Sunday, December 15, 2013

PSA: Do Not Mess With Others’ Food in the Office Fridge, Murder Occurs in Virginia



I try to maintain a calm demeanor at work.  Even when jacked with by the occasional co-worker or opposing counsel.  But, I had to get my own mini-fridge years ago when someone stole one of my Hot Pockets which clearly had “JMS” written on the two-pack in huge black marker, and I was the only “JMS” in the office. This was not a case of feeding the hungry or helping the poor.  Had someone asked for a Hot Pocket because they had forgotten their lunch, I would have said, “sure,” or would have offered to take them for a tasty sandwich in the tunnel below the building.  But no, said person straight-up jacked my Hot Pocket.  And, let me add this. I weigh 215.  One Hot Pocket is not enough for lunch.  So, I about lost my shiat, had to take some minutes, and had to buy a mini-fridge later.

Hung T. Nguyen apparently did not have the option to purchase or install his own mini-fridge at the barber shop he worked at in Fairfax County, Virginia.  In December 2010, Nguyen had argued with two co-workers, and when one of them threw out food he had stored in the fridge at work, he had enough.  According to the Washington Post, and the prosecutor, “He was hurt and it humiliated him.  He made a decision he would take revenge and kill them both.”

That’s going too far. When I said I lost my shiat, I meant I had a short cuss-fit, demanded an apology from the guy I found out had eaten my Hot Pocket that day, and made him pay me, on the spot, for a full lunch from What-a-Burger.  I did not go on a killing spree.  That’s why I’m not in jail and Nguyen is.

Nguyen quit working at the barbershop soon after the incident over his food being tossed.  According to the Post On April 13, Stott said Nguyen went to the barbershop under the pretense of signing tax documents. He signed the documents and later opened fire, shooting Le D. Hoang, 39, in the back and wounding another unidentified co-worker in the shin.

Deputy Public Defender Dawn Butorac said Hoang and the other man had bullied Nguyen. She said he also suffered from mental illness and his brain was damaged during a car crash in his native Vietnam. A defense expert testified at a previous hearing that Hoang had an IQ of 66.

While I am not condoning the murder of anyone (let along co-workers or former co-workers), here’s a protip: don’t throw away other people’s stuff in the fridge or steal other people’s food, unless it’s gone nasty and is part of a preestablished fridge cleaning process.  It makes people insanely mad.  You don’t know what people are going through.  And this is one of the most obnoxious things you can do to someone, particularly someone already on edge. And people, if your co-workers suck so much that they bully you and throw out your food, get your own mini-fridge, and if that is not an option, pack something non-perishable while you look for another job.

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