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Coworker sniffed my lunch. I made him buy a new one. Am I being unfair?

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G

gohepcat

Banned
You turned nothing into a cringe-inducing, embarrassingly awkward moment for everyone… including you.

I spent half of the vetting process of new hires trying to weed out socially awkward poison like this.
 
V

VanWinkle

Member
OP: Did this guy TOUCH your food? At all? Because the original post didn't suggest he did, but your subsequent posts and the posts of your sympathizers often say something about touching your food.

Also, from your posts you seem to be very observant (noticing all of the little things he does) and germaphobic, so I would wager 100% that his nose wasn't as close to the food as you are suggesting.
 
T

teacupcopter

Banned
If one of my staff came to me and someone else smelt their food I would probably find them more at fault. This is ridiculous. It's not about being afraid of confrontation it's just about not being a dick

EDIT: In fact I'd go as far to say he probably just wants to be friends and get along with everyone from your other posts. He just had a weird way of showing it. If you don't like some of it politely say "Hey Arnold, just so you know there are a few things that have just gotten to me", but just to go off at him over smelling some food seems really unprofessional and rude.
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
My reaction would be to say "Hey, please don't put your face in my food" in a serious tone. The he'd know not to do it again. I'd also have eaten it. It's gross, but it's not that gross to throw a meal away over. It's not like you were going to catch anything from eating it.
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
You're a germophobe if you let someone inhale your box of food.

Fuck that shit OP on your side you could have handled it better Arnold seems like a cool dude but damn son boundaries.
 
R

RecRoulette

Member
OP must see the world through a Ren and Stimpy closeup lens, that must make life rough.

latest
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
behaviour would make me feel slightly uncomfortable as well, I too don't enjoy people sticking their nose in my shit, but couldn't you just have told him "Sorry mate, I don't enjoy this. Please refrain from doing it" and end it there instead of acting like an entitled ponce?
 
The Hermit

The Hermit

Member
Hoo-doo said:
If the guy was just being (overly) friendly as a co-worker and interested in my meal, then i'd consider it a bit strange if he'd actually go and smell my food. I'd probably comment on it with a joke like that he shouldn't put his entire nose into it or something and leave it at that.

Coworker laughs, you laugh, you eat your fucking lunch and you actually don't antagonise half your coworkers by making a big scene about it. Interacting with other people must be like pulling teeth for germaphobes.
Click to expand...

that's exactly how I would handle

its like interacting with others 101
 
S

Saya

Member
Yeah, this whole thread smells fishy to me.

But then again, there are some weird ass people out there.
 
T

Trouble

Banned
Y'all missed the part where the dude opened OP's lunch in order to sniff it. In what universe is that acceptable behavior?

Allegedly, of course.
 
F

farisr

Member
Saya said:
Yeah, this whole thread smells fishy to me.

But then again, there are some weird ass people out there.
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Yeah, and in here. Folks who think it's no big deal if somebody opens your lunch container sticks their face inside and takes a sniff.

Edit: Before more people assume that I'm siding with the OP:
farisr said:
I didn't mention anything about OP's reaction being right. I do think he overreacted. But there are some people (not all, not even most) in here literally saying Arnold did nothing wrong by opening the container and sniffing the food. That's who I was referring to in my post.
Click to expand...
 
T

Tallshortman

Member
farisr said:
Yeah, and in here. Folks who think it's no big deal if somebody opens your lunch container sticks their face inside and takes a sniff.
Click to expand...

I mean if you consider anything that constitutes making a scene and appearing like an asshole a "big deal" then yeah sure.

Of course it's a little off putting, that it constitutes chiding and demand for lunch replacement is what's over the top.
 
A

Apath

Member
Trojita said:
Lmao

Who picks up someone's food, opens the container lid, and takes a huge inhale of someone's food?
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I don't know, it's fucking weird, but the OP still overreacted and handled the situation poorly. I mean, he just put his food on the dude's desk and went and grabbed another lunch? That is so passive aggressive and unprofessional.

At best I'd bring it up, and, if the co-worker did not see eye-to-eye, I'd throw out the meal and buy a new one. What is even $20 compared to your professional image, network, and working relationships?
farisr said:
Yeah, and in here. Folks who think it's no big deal if somebody opens your lunch container sticks their face inside and takes a sniff.
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There is right and wrong, and yet you can still overreact and handle a situation poorly. You can be in the right yet your reaction can be over the top and unjustifiable.
 
F

farisr

Member
Tallshortman said:
I mean if you consider anything that constitutes making a scene and appearing like an asshole a "big deal" then yeah sure.

Of course it's a little off putting, that it constitutes chiding and demand for lunch replacement is what's over the top.
Click to expand...
Apath said:
There is right and wrong, and yet you can still overreact and handle a situation poorly. You can be in the right yet your reaction can be over the top and unjustifiable.
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I didn't mention anything about OP's reaction being right. I do think he overreacted. But there are some people (not all, not even most) in here literally saying Arnold did nothing wrong by opening the container and sniffing the food. That's who I was referring to in my post.
 
R

rhandino

Banned
The fact that this thread exists at all tell me that you know that you overreacted a biT too much.

He seems one of those overly friendly coworkers that most people have and while I do agree that he was intrusive by doing what he did you went DEEP with this part:

"Well you can have that one and get me another one. I don't want your nose hair and breath and boogers in my food."

A bit too harsh in my humble opinion and there are better ways to deal with overly friendly people at work without making yourself the "ogre".
 
H

HardRojo

Member
While I think he didn't really have to go and sniff your food, you overreacted there. I'd apologize and explain the situation and try to make up for it, you don't really want someone in the office who doesn't like you or feel uncomfortable with, even if it's just for a few weeks it makes the place just weird. A sincere apology should do the trick, plus it doesn't seem like the guy is a bad person.

Edit: OP, what's your stance about backwash?
 
S

Subpar Scrub

Banned
I had a co-worker smell my lunch like 10cm from the food the other day. It came across as a bit weird, but I didn't say anything and just happily ate my lunch because I'm not a crazy person.
 
A

Apath

Member
farisr said:
I didn't mention anything about OP's reaction being right. I do think he overreacted. But there are some people (not all, not even most) in here literally saying Arnold did nothing wrong by opening the container and sniffing the food. That's who I was referring to in my post.
Click to expand...
I apologize for inferring too much from your post then.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Op, how do you handle life in a world filled with mouth breathers? Their germs are everywhere.


EVERYWHERE.
 
P

pariah164

Member
I'm torn here. On the one hand, yeah, OP overreacted. Acted a bit of a dick. But on the other hand, I can understand his point of view. If someone suddenly picked up my food without my permission and took a whiff, I'd be creeped out. That and I get upset when people touch my things without permission.

May be a troll thread, don't care. There's my $0.02.
 
E

evil solrac v3.0

Member
Sparkedglory said:
Some of you guys are too much. Nobody is saying that the OP shouldn't be upset at all, but he DID overreact. Just go apologize tomorrow and explain that he doesn't appreciate what the dude did.
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He has nothing to apologize for, he did nothing wrong. Christ is it that hard to understand that you don't go around sniffing someone's food and putting you face in it? It's called manners, Arnold needs to learn some.



SilentRacoon said:
No one is saying he shouldn't be upset, he has all the right to speak up and tell him he is not cool with it, just doing it like normal human beign, in a sensible and tactful way, without making a scene in front of all your work colleagues, making the other person feel like total shit, It ain't that hard really.
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Saying that he overreacted is the same as saying that he should just shrug it off. Arnold is an adult and shouldn't have to be told in private or in a "diplomatic" way that he shouldn't Grab someone's lunch and sniff like he just finished cooking a five star meal!
This is the height of passive aggressiveness. Now that Arnold has been embarrassed he'll know better than to pull that kind of behavior with people.
 
Surface of Me

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
If I was Arnold I would likely be so offended I would make a point of going to your cubicle everyday at lunch, fill up a cup of water, turn around, and rip a steamy, audible fart into your cubicle. Then I would walk away without saying a word.
 
S

Snaggle

Banned
Hey OP one day I came back to my desk to find a co-worker taking a bite out of my half eaten sandwich, I said "You bastard!", laughed and told him to take the rest of it. Poor simpleton's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree - I was happy for him lol.
 
T

Taco Tuesday

Member
Goldenroad said:
Good point. Maybe OP is Arnold and he was just hoping for the thread backfire. No one is that oblivious that they think they're not being a jerk in this situation.
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Dude you wouldn't believe how oblivious some people can be.

animlboogy said:
A Couple Weird Dudes Interact: The Thread
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You're killing me bro, this made me laugh so hard I almost woke my son up.

On topic. You're totally overreacting OP. Sounds like Arnold is from a part of the world where you massage someone a little bit when saying hello and sniffing food doesn't mean you have to pay for it.

Like everyone else said you should apologize and buy the guy lunch. You could have told him you weren't ok with that without being a total dick.
 
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