Why is is that no amount of freezer tape with a name scrawled out in black marker can protect one's precious break time treats? (Not a rant btw). How about adding on an additonal "curse" to the homemade labels? Like "may he who should disturb the chamber of this pb&j sandwich shall have many copier problems". It probably wouldn't stop any would-be theives (never did for the tomb raiders in the old movies) but it might make them think.
-- Graciem, Aug 16 2002

mfd magic?
-- yamahito, Aug 16 2002


It's not magic, it's psychology.
-- Aristotle, Aug 16 2002


You can also dab things with blue or green food-dye. That tends to put people off.
-- Loris, Aug 16 2002


Graciem's problem is exactly the reason I keep my whisky in my desk at work.
-- calum, Aug 16 2002


[bliss] - [calum] said nothing about keeping his whisky in a bottle...
-- PeterSilly, Aug 16 2002


I've told this story here before, but that was long ago, before we had things like teeth and squirrels, so I'll tell it again.

I once solved the food theft problem by constructing a "dynamite bomb" out of a few 9-inch lengths of air hose (nice, brick-red color, about 1 inch in diameter), some black electrician's tape to cap the ends of the hose, some curly wire, and a dial thermometer (simulating a timer or some other activator). If a prospective thief takes time to think it through, it becomes evident that it's not real, but on initial inspection, and strapped to my six-pack of Mountain Dew with a note that read "Make my day," it was evidently pretty persuasive. It solved the problem, at any rate.

Having solved the problem, eventually I took my "bomb" home with me (at the time I lived in an apartment), and dropped it on the kitchen table. As it happened, the kitchen table was in a prominent position...the first thing one would see upon entering the apartment.

Then came the day when the periodic bug-spraying service came along with their master key and sprayed inside everyone's apartment while people were away at work. I got a call from the apartment manager, saying, "We'd like for you to come by the office this afternoon...we need to have a friendly chat with you about any serious issues you may be dealing with..."

It still amuses me to imagine the scene when that poor service person encountered my handiwork.
-- beauxeault, Aug 16 2002


beauxeault : Er..... reverse of your story .... I used to keep plastic explosive in my mother's freezer, in a couple of ice cream tubs labelled "cooking butter" (it looked just like blocks of butter wrapped in waxed paper). Thankfully she never tried to fry anything with it ... !
-- 8th of 7, Aug 16 2002


Any relation to 4th of 7?
-- thumbwax, Aug 16 2002



random, halfbakery