It seems like a no-brainer that you shouldn’t install cameras or other recording devices in your home without everyone else who lives there being on board, but are there ever exception to that rule?
This OP thinks she found one, because after living with three roommates for awhile and no one fessing up to stealing the food she left in the fridge, things were getting desperate.
I (F20) live in a shared house with 3 other girls. I will call them Sara, Kate, and Zoe.
Kate is friends with Zoe, the rest of us aren’t really friends. Whilst I’m on ok terms with Sara and Zoe, I’ve never really liked Kate.
We have a shared fridge, where we have a shelf for each of our stuff. I have noticed that my food and milk constantly goes missing. I see multiple times a week that a large portion of my food and milk is gone. It’s unbelievably frustrating, and also very time- consuming and expensive having to buy/cook new food.
She’s always believed that she knows who the culprit is but everyone denies it, and the probable-suspect claims OP can’t accuse anyone without proof.
I always believed it was Kate because 1.) She is awake late in the night (1-4am). I am asleep then, and I tend to notice my stuff missing in the morning 2.) I have asked all of them about it.
Sara and Zoe both deny taking my stuff, but Kate gets all defensive and says I shouldn’t accuse her when I have no proof
While complaining to a friend about the situation, OP got an idea about how she could get that proof – with a fridge cam.
She installed one, waited a week, and the confronted the thief (who was the girl she had suspected all along).
I was complaining about it to my friend, and he said he was in a similar situation and he got a fridge camera.
I thought this was a great idea. I got one, placed it discreetly inside the fridge, and decided to wait a week.
Sure enough, it was Kate, raiding my food daily. I confronted her about it, because now I had proof.
I showed her the footage, told her to never do it again, and that she should repay me for what she took.
Instead of feeling sheepish and apologizing, the food thief got defensive and pitched a fit about not feeling safe in her own home since OP was spying on them with cameras.
She went apes*%t.
She said how dare I put a camera in the shared kitchen without asking the others first, and how it’s so invasive to record others in their own home.
I explained the camera only recorded the inside of the fridge, not the whole kitchen, but she didn’t care.
OP doesn’t feel like it was a breach since first of all, it only recorded the inside of the fridge and secondly, it wouldn’t have been necessary if the stealing had stopped on its own.
She has since said she’ll never be able to feel safe in her own home again.
Zoe has sided with her and they’re both calling me an AH and saying I should’ve asked everyone first, even though this would’ve defeated the whole purpose.
I said none of this would’ve happened if Kate hadn’t been stealing my food and lying about it. Sara has taken my side, so it’s pretty tense in the house atm.
AITA?
The roommates are divided so OP is coming to Reddit for a quick call on this one.
Let’s see where they come down in the comments!
The top comment is that the roommate is just blustering because she got caught, and that OP has nothing to apologize for.
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This person says she should only address comments about the theft, not about anything else.
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Legally speaking, the roommate has no leg to stand on.
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Based on other Reddit stories, they kind of got off easy.
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Simple answer? Don’t let her manipulate you.
Image Credit: Reddit
Yeah, this girl is getting played by two of her roommates and she did nothing wrong.
Do you agree? Disagree? Would this have bothered you if you were one of the other girls? Our comments are open for your thoughts!
