Woman’s Co-Workers Say She Was Wrong For ‘Being Honest’ About Her Pregnant Colleague's ‘Unique’ Baby Name
The woman was just trying to share her honest opinion.
Prostock-studio / Shutterstock Nowadays, it seems that baby names are becoming more and more unique. When someone asks for an opinion on an... interesting baby name, it can be difficult to strike a balance between honesty and kindness.
One woman experienced this struggle firsthand when her pregnant co-worker asked her what she thought of her baby’s name-to-be.
The woman told her co-worker that she didn’t like the baby name she had picked out.
She then posted on Reddit asking if she was in the wrong for being honest with her co-worker and provided some background information to explain the situation.
“My co-worker is pregnant with her first baby, and she asked me yesterday about my thoughts on her baby name, and things didn’t go well,” she prefaced the story. “We’re not friends but since we’re both girls and the same age (23), we do speak a lot when we’re on the same shift together.”
Because of the women’s forced closeness, her co-worker thought it would be perfectly natural to ask what her colleague thought of her baby's name. It just didn’t go quite as she planned.
“She asked me if I [had] heard of the name Venus, and I say yes, and she says she’s going to name her daughter that but add an A at the end so it’s Venusa,” the woman explained. “She said that it’s so exotic and unique sounding … I said no, it sounds like the already existing name ‘Vanessa.’”
That was definitely not the answer the co-worker was hoping for.
“She got upset and said no, it doesn’t, and that she’s asked her boyfriend and her parents and they all said it’s a name that’s never been heard of before,” she continued. “I said that it sounds like Vanessa and that it’s kind of a dumb name to give someone since every time they say it aloud people will call them Vanessa and it will always be misspelled.”
The woman’s co-worker left the shift early in tears. Her other co-workers admonished her for hurting their pregnant colleague’s feelings.
Reddit users were split on how they felt about the woman's actions.
There was no consensus on Reddit regarding how the woman should have handled the situation, though some people felt that she made the wrong move with her brutal honesty.
“You’re right that [it] does sound like Vanessa and I agree that it’s a dumb name,” one user commented. “On the other hand, when someone you aren’t close with tells you their [baby’s] name, you just say, 'Oh, that’s nice,' no matter how bad it is. That’s just common sense.”
“You didn’t have to say it was dumb,” another person wrote. “You could have just said, ‘I hear Vanessa. Maybe it’s just me,’ and let her dumb name go.”
However, others felt very differently about the situation and argued that the woman did the right thing.
“If she didn’t want [your] opinion, she shouldn’t have asked for it,” one Redditor wrote.
“People need to stop setting their kids up for failure with these stupid names," another commenter added. "A life … of correcting other people is tiring. I say that as a young person with a stupid name.”
There are many lessons to be learned from this woman’s experience.
On one hand, this woman was just trying to be honest and share her opinion, which is what was asked of her. She certainly did that. And it’s entirely possible that her co-worker (or her unborn child) will come to regret such a unique name.
Regardless, it's always best to lead with kindness and empathy for others, even when your opinion is asked for. Perhaps this woman could have used a bit more of that in her response.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.