I have a coworker in the office next to mine who is a kind-of friend, but not a close friend. This morning when I came in, I noticed that a bag of nuts I keep in my drawer was out on top of my desk. The coworker came in and told me he had gotten hungry and eaten some. At the time, I didn't think much of it, since I always give him snacks when he comes in complaining of hunger anyway.
But then I realized that he must have gone through my drawers looking for a snack when I wasn't here. Which weirds me out. I mean, is it just me, or is it crossing a line to go digging through the office drawers of a coworker when he/she's not around? Am I being oversensitive?
We have had run-ins over boundary issues before. This guy also had a habit of coming into my office, walking around my desk, and peering over my shoulder at the emails and IM boxes open on my computer screen. "So, you're emailing X paralegal [whom he doesn't get along with]? Why?" "Oh, you're chatting with Y? What about?" Eventually I told him he shouldn't do that, that people's conversations/emails are private unless he's invited to look at them. Maybe we'll have to have a similar conversation about this.
Yes, digging through someone's drawers (unless there is some exigency, like you know they have something client-related that you need immediately) is definitely over the line.
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