Last week, I came in to work after a long Thanksgiving weekend. I was rested and ready to start work when I decided to reach for my headphones inside my drawer. To my surprise they weren't there, I checked and re-checked everywhere. Could it have been possible they had been stolen for the second time? No way right?
The answer is yes, they had been stolen again. I panicked and went home right away, looking for them, nowhere to be found and I knew it. I knew I had left them inside the drawer at work. I normally lock the drawer but this time I hadn't!
While looking for them at home, I took one of the security cameras I purchased back when my car got hit, and brought it to work. Set it up, hid the camera inside a jimmy johns box, and the recording device inside some P&ID boxes under my desk.
Here you can see where the camera was placed:
I was actually confident I would catch whoever was stealing my headphones. The first time around I accepted it, because it had been partially my fault for leaving them in the open on top of my desk. Second time around, they had the courage to go through my drawers and that was just plain dark. I took all of my pictures down my my cube, and decided to only socialize with close friends, no one else because I was scared the person who had violated my privacy was a person I worked with. I became paranoid, I looked at everyone with confrontation eyes like if they had done it.
I was mad, and I needed to get to the bottom of it, because I wasn't comfortable sitting at my cube anymore. I kept thinking that people were out to get me, and that someone was watching me. How did they know I had re-bought the headphones? How did they know they were in my drawer? This person needed to be gone from my life.
The week went by and the camera showed nothing, but the cleaning lady doing her job and clueless about the camera. The weekend came, and I knew I would catch someone, because it always happened on the long weekends.
I'll be honest and say that I prayed with sincere words on Sunday at Church about this, and that I really wanted to find out who it was.
Monday, I came in to work (2 days ago) and to my surprise the trap I had set up wasn't how I had left it, the books were messy and my sand box box was where I hadn't left it. I quickly realized things weren't adding up. I looked over to look for the camera, and it was GONE! I started hyperventilating, and sat down trying to calm down but how could I? I reached down to the box where I had hid the recording device to see if they had taken that, and guess what? it was untouched, all I needed was a clear video from what had happened at my desk that weekend.
My computer had also been turned on and he had tried to delete memory? probably thinking the video was recording on the computer. When I saw it, there was a blue screen mentioning something about re-formatting, or recovering.
I went through the recorded videos and found exactly what I was looking for. The evidence was there, someone had been at my desk! and they had fallen for the trap. It was prefect. However that didn't stop my body from shaking and breathing hard.
After spending all morning meeting with my bosses and HR department and the appropriate people, the trigger was pulled and the individual was fired and escorted out to his car. It was the moment I gained my sanity back even though he took two sets of headphones and my camera with him.
All in all I am thankful to know that this person was stopped, removed and is goneeeeeeee.
