Worker Asks If It Was Wrong To Point Out ‘Quirky' Co-Worker’s ‘Distracting’ Lunch Habit — ‘Now She Barely Says Anything’
He totally ruined the vibe...
Kaboompics.com | Pexels We all have quirky habits. These are the colorful traits that make us all unique and wonderful. Unfortunately, some people, whether it's because they are simply having a bad day or they feel compelled to be a curmudgeon, have to ruin things for the rest of us. Office Kevin has entered the conversation. This worker, at least, had the decency to question if his actions were wrong after he took it upon himself to embarrass a quirky co-worker because of what he called a "distracting" lunch habit.
Taking to Reddit, likely out of guilt, the unnamed employee claimed he didn't mean to make his co-worker feel bad, but her habit of talking to her lunch before eating it compelled him to shame her over it. He may not have meant to make her feel bad, but he did, and even the other people he works with agreed.
A worker chose to shame his co-worker over her 'distracting' lunch habit.
"I work in an office with about 15 people. One of my coworkers has this habit of narrating everything she’s eating out loud. Not in a joking way," the worker began in his Reddit post.
He explained that his co-worker narrating her lunch meant she'd literally say things like, "Mmm, spicy little pickle today," and "Okay, let’s give this baby carrot a crunch." There was even one time he overheard her saying, "What’s that? You’re just a sad sandwich? Don’t worry, I’m gonna eat you anyway."
Kaboompics.com | Pexels
Personally, I think this woman sounds like an absolute delight, and I would love to have lunch with her and join in on the fun. But like with all things nowadays, someone has to come around and yuck another person's yum just because.
The man said, after a while, he found her "weird" behavior "distracting." Instead of simply ignoring it or putting on earphones during her lunch break, he decided to be mean. During lunch one day, he walked up to her and said, "Hey, no offense, but do you realize you talk to your food out loud every day?"
His co-worker immediately became embarrassed at her 'quirk' being pointed out.
Imagine yourself in the exact same scenario. You're about to indulge in your crunchy little carrot, and this guy comes along and just embarrasses you in the middle of the office lunch room. How would you react?
He said she laughed it off, but it was clear to him that she was feeling self-conscious about it. Ummm... yeah, of course she was. You shamed her for absolutely no good reason. He wrote, "Now she barely says anything at lunch, and a few coworkers said I killed the vibe."
He now feels bad about the incident, but it honestly only sounds like he feels bad because the rest of the office stuck up for her. It wasn't as if her narration was harming anyone, and honestly, how distracting could it have been? She wasn't doing it in the cubicle next to him. She was in the lunch area during her lunch break. That's when employees can be distracting!
As one commenter simply put it, "She wasn't hurting you or anyone else. If it bothered you, and no one else, you should have removed yourself or used earplugs or something. Like seriously, you sound miserable. Let people have their harmless quirks. Stop dimming the light in them."
Employees need to find joy where they can in order to get through the workday.
This delightful woman probably wasn't even aware of her little habit, and it was probably just a natural part of her personality. That isn't something that she should be shamed for. That's something that should be celebrated.
Mikhail Nilov | Pexels
According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace study, six in 10 people are emotionally detached at work, and 18% are miserable. Employees should be allowed to find a little bit of joy and happiness wherever they can during the long and grueling hours they spend away from home.
If her narration was really distracting to her co-worker, he should've just eaten lunch somewhere else or brought headphones and listened to or watched something on his phone. But to blatantly call someone out for doing something that probably brought her joy feels more like an attack against her personality than a real issue that needed to be addressed.
We all have different ways to cope with work stress, and perhaps we should be more compassionate toward our co-workers rather than policing them.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
