“It’s the third one that’s gone missing this week”

Sarah, front desk, Charlotte

Sarah’s office is not the one from Thursday’s story. It’s a dental practice four hundred miles away, and the fridge situation is worse. “Someone’s cup goes, someone gets accused, someone buys a new one. Every week.”

After the Atlanta incident we started asking a different question. Not whose cup got taken, but whose didn’t. Across three offices we found five people who have never had theirs touched. All five gave the same reason before we’d finished asking.

Renee, claims adjuster, Atlanta

Photographed at her desk, Wednesday

Renee sat six desks from Thursday’s argument. Her cup was in the same fridge. “It’s been in there two years. Nobody’s ever picked it up, and I know why. You can’t look at it and say you thought it was yours. There’s nothing else like it in there.”

She says the plain ones get taken because they all look the same and they all keep drinks cold. “So someone grabs one, it’s got ice in it at four o’clock, and suddenly it’s theirs.”

Marcus, warehouse supervisor, Dallas

By phone

Marcus keeps his on the forklift. “Fifty guys, one fridge. Mine’s the only one that’s never gone walking. It looks like mine. That’s it. Nobody’s going to pretend.” He’s watched three coworkers lose theirs since spring.

Stacy, scheduling coordinator, Fort Worth

Photographed in the break room, Thursday

Stacy’s is the one people ask about. “I’ve had two people in this building ask where I got it and zero people take it. That’s the trade.” She’s had it since August and it’s been to a rodeo weekend in Stephenville, a bridal shower, and every shift since.

Somebody at the rodeo complimented it before they said hi to me.Stacy, Fort Worth

What they had in common

Three of the five had different tumblers. What they shared was that nothing else in their fridge looked like theirs.

Both said the same thing about walking in with it. People notice. Not in a loud way, just a “where’d you get that,” a nod at the gas station, a woman at the bridal shower asking if it came in other colours. “It feels like mine before I’ve even picked it up,” Renee said. “That’s why nobody else does.”

“It was made for people like me,” Renee said. “Not the office. I just bring it there.”