Office fridge padlock sparks debate: ‘Peak pettiness or justifiable security?’

A viral photo is raising a debate about office manners.

An unnamed person who goes by Vented55 posted a photo on the Casual UK Reddit Thread to get others’ opinions on office etiquette, showing a fridge filled with several bottles of milk with one being padlocked.

“Peak pettiness or justifiable security in the office kitchen,” they captioned the photo.

Reddit users flooded the comments to leave their thoughts on the move — and share stories of their own office fridge fiascos.

Most of the commenters agreed with using the lock and didn’t think it was an overstep.

“As someone who used to buy 2 pints of milk every week, only for it to be completely empty by Wednesday morning, I totally understand the rationale,” silver76 said. “I vote not petty.”

Pedrolami wrote: “Having had someone steal my food in work, I totally agree.”

“I’m always happy to share my milk in the office, but the amount of times I have found that MY milk which I bought is completely empty with no replacement offered/available makes me feel this is completely justified. Nothing worse than making a cuppa only to find that someone finished the milk and left you high and dry (of milk),” williamblair shared.

One person even shared that they had also locked up their milk in the work fridge.

“I bought an Udderlok for my milk at work and it worked fine for a few weeks, but then I think some thief took it as a challenge and pretty much ripped the carton apart to steal the milk,” Dannywonderful commented.

People agreed that the lock seemed necessary and noted that locking your goods to avoid them being stolen is commonplace — although it’s not as commonly done with food.

“It’s not any more petty than using a locker to store your belongings or locking up your bike. It’s not petty to stop people from stealing your stuff,” Corporal_Anaesthetic said.