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[RichiRamjag]

OP, two of my coworkers and I shared lunch today. We didn't change forks.

You mad?

yuk, now I cant finish dinner.

I'm so disgusted from your story that you're buying ME lunch tomorrow!

Sniff it first and you're gonna have trouble.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Damn food sniffers

 

[TriniTrin]

I cannot believe people actually do things like this. What a response to someone that smelled your food. Do you think the people making your food wore masks and gloves and were sanitized? Did you wash your hands before eating, because if not you probably had more shit on your fingers than he did in his nose.... Jeez... Crazy people out there I tell ya.

 

[Last Prime]

There are three things you don't do to another man.

1. Mess with his wife.
2. Mess with his money.
3. Mess with his food.

But you should clear the air before you leave.

 

[A Serious Man]

That's something an antagonist in a romantic comedy would do.

 

[Arcteryx]

Hey OP: I just peed and didn't wash my hands. You mad?

Spoiler

I peed in the shower

 

[Prezhulio]

Pretty inconsiderate of the coworker, but also not that big of a deal at the end of the day. The food was likely subjected to way more "unsanitary" conditions than someone smelling it. It's the fact that the person picked it up and smelled under the lid without asking that's shitty.

People in general are weirdos and have no respect for other's things, treasure the colleagues that are normal. does this sort of all or nothing confrontation happen often at the workplace for you?

 

[Randy Solo]

There are three things you don't do to another man.

1. Mess with his wife.
2. Mess with his money.
3. Mess with his food.

But you should clear the air before you leave.

So does that mean..

4. Mess with his children.
5. Mess with his family.

If so, food is incredibly high on this list.

 

[qcf x2]

Am I the only one who thinks Arnold may have the hots for OP? All in his personal space, creeping up on him to speak full volume, massaging his shoulder, claiming his food as his own aromatic treasure.

 

[Glass Shark]

Yes, you overreacted. tbh you sound like a miserable person to be around.

 

[x3sphere]

I would be pretty ticked off if I saw someone do that but still wouldn't have reacted in the way you did, assuming it was just a one off. Apologize and just say you were on edge that day or something.

 

[Kozak]

IMO the guy who sniffed your food overreacted.

He got called out for doing something wrong and instead of saying "sorry bro I won't do that again" he went and bitched to HR and probably told the story to befit his agenda.

My girlfriend was made senior at her work and some woman who had worked their longer started throwing a fit, refusing to work and shunning my girlfriend.

Guess who was told to fix it? My girlfriend.

People who can't act professionally in the workforce are fucks. It always falls on the professional to fix the situation that the unprofessional person caused.

 

[malingenie]

Yes, you overreacted. But if that's who you are it's who you are.

 

[dity]

I can't believe this thread. Is this real?

 

[Warm Machine]

Massive over reaction that just caused a domino effect of terrible stress in your life over something that was innocuous.

 

[Artanisix]

a man getting that close to sniff your food is fuckin nasty thats all

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

you were in the right. nobody should be touching your food like that.
anyone who says it's not a big deal is just afraid of confrontation.

 

[Sparkedglory]

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.

 

[Bare Grills]

I love the smell of other people's food

 

[Zackat]

a man getting that close to sniff your food is fuckin nasty thats all

It is gross, but the overreaction was real is all. This could have been handled in a much more diplomatic way.

Having a germ problem is one thing, but being able to handle it tactfully in the workplace is another.

I love the smell of other people's food

 

[crisdecuba]

That's not what I have a problem with. I have a problem with you calling out the people who were calling out the OP before he made the apology.

If the people didn't rag on him, then he would have never thought there needed to be an apology made.

If you read back you'll see I was calling out the people *still* crapping on him after the post re: the apology.

 

[Zaptruder]

If you've ever had sex, you've unavoidably exchanged many many orders of magnitude more germs and bacteria then Arnold ever did by smelling your food and brushing his lip on the lid.

And obviously, it's not like you want Arnold germs or whatever, but at the same time, to act like a single nothing touch is biohazard is demeaning and insulting to the other party.

I mean, you're not having sex with Arnold, but you're not having sex with the bacteria on whoever you've been in bed with either.

 

[InfiniteBento]

I mean, I get why you would be upset. Some dude sniffing your stuff is rude and a little nasty. I wouldn't get super upset by it but I can see why it would bother you.

 

[PK Gaming]

You 150% overreacted

OP did you not have siblings growing up? This used to happen to me all of the time

I share food with my friends as well

 

[Zackat]

You 150% overreacted

OP did you not have siblings growing up? This used to happen to me all of the time

I share food with my friends as well

These are people you know well. Not just some coworkers. Not applicable at all really.

It was an overreaction but it was definitely gross.

 

[Kaladin]

You lost me at "I don't want your nose hair and breath and boogers in my food."

Yeah....the guy probably shouldn't have been up close and personal with your food, but you don't need to insult him either. You can politely ask him to not do that again, check your food for anything gross from him and then enjoy it because unless he's cartoon levels of gross, in reality nothing at all got on it.

 

[McLovin]

Over reacting, but my bro farted near me when I was eating once. That pissed me off, because farts are really poop in gas form.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

I believe there is an old french tale along these lines.

There was a marketplace and someone was selling roasted meat. One of the poor souls decided to stand near the stand, sniffing the roast, savoring the smell. The food vendor takes the man to french "court" and demands compensation for the smells that the man "stole" from him.

The defense lawyer had a brilliant idea -- he took several coins with him to court that day. While the vendor was describing his story, the lawyer constantly played with the coins, jingling them around, making a big racket. The vendor finally asked him "What in the world are you doing?"

The lawyer replied, "My client stole the smell of meat from you, so we are paying you back with the sound of coins." The judge thought this was so clever he immediately threw out the case.

So yes, you overreacted. You should buy him lunch and apologize.

I read this in Higlights as a 7- or 8-year-old except it was set in Egypt.

A poor man has a single coin, enough to pay for travel later that day but not enough for food, so he sits a short distance from a food vendor and enjoys the smell. The vendor, irritated, demands the man pay her for enjoying the scent. To settle the conflict, the two of them are brought before Pharaoh. After listening to each of them, Pharaoh asks the poor man to hand her his only coin. She holds it up to produce a shadow, which she tells the vendor is payment enough for the smell of the chicken.

 

[Pizoxuat]

Am I the only one who thinks Arnold may have the hots for OP? All in his personal space, creeping up on him to speak full volume, massaging his shoulder, claiming his food as his own aromatic treasure.

You're not alone. It's healthy to set boundaries, OP, but unless the offense is huge, you gotta start politely. If he kept manhandling your food after a gentle warning that you don't like that, then you could get pissed.

 

[hitmon]

So I work for a medium-large Enterprise IT firm, and occasionally bounce from office to office, location to location to tackle projects and make sure things are how they are supposed to be. My name is attached to many projects, but unfortunately due to the type of work I really don't get 'close' with my coworkers.

So this past couple of weeks, I am put into a new office where I don't know anyone minus one older lady I worked with on a previous project (Serah). There are a few people on the team as well, but the only person who really talks to me besides Serah is an older fellow, Arnold. I don't mind too much, he's a funny guy and likes to laugh. It's funny seeing him excited about something because his accent (I believe he grew up in Austria? German and Russian roots?) comes out. He has this annoying habit of invading space, though. If we are having a conversation, he will slide up next to me like hes whispering a dark secret but continue to talk out loud. When he comes up to greet you, its always a slight 'massage' to the shoulder or back of the neck. Very weird but I guess he's just very extroverted and comfortable or something.

So today, I'm sitting in my little cubicle. The cubes are about 6' high and 7'x7' wide. Right outside the 'door' to my cube theres a big water tank. I come in with my glorious honey chicken from a chicken shack next door. The aroma is just as golden as the crispy skin and honey sauce, just emanating and beautiful. Arnold walks over to my desk after smelling and says "Oh my god what do you have? It smells so good!" and I tell him where and what I got. At the time I was refilling my water bottle with water, where I can clearly see Arnold pick up my food container, flip up the lid, and SNIFF my food. My food was so close to his face, I swear I could see the front part of the lid brush up against his top lip.

So as he tells me how good it looks/smells I go "Did you just sniff my food?" He says yes, and I immediately go "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." We do a little back and forth about how he already ate and I wasn't going to eat that so he can just have it and he leaves my cube. I wait for a minute and put the container of food on his desk and go back to buy another container for myself. Needless to say, he went off to Serah and started complaining about how I was trying to 'get over' on him and I was rude (I said it in a very nice manner, IMO). Later, Serah comes over and explains how I was being crass and unprofessional etc etc. I explain to her that I think that it's gross, I barely know him and he's breathing on my food. I ask her point blank if she would have eaten the food afterwards and she says "No, but I wouldn't have made a scene about it or told him" and I make my point that if he didn't know, he would not change.

So in the end everyone leaves for the day and this is the first day Arnold didn't stop by to say "Have a good night". I expect many days of Arnold not stopping by in the future, but I'm only here for a few more weeks and who knows if I'll see him the next time I am here.

GAF, am I wrong for 'causing a scene'? Am I overreacting to someone breathing all on my food?

It sounds like possible pent up frustration with him invading your space often got the best of you. You could have probably handled it better as others have already mentioned, but I don't blame you for going off on him. He should not have been messing with your lunch.

 

[PAULINK]

classic neogaf

 

[bumclot]

Now, this is actually something I can agree with. I wouldn't have done this.

Nah, you'd just go behind their back and report them to a superior. MUCH better.

 

[Murkas]

I read this in Higlights as a 7- or 8-year-old except it was set in Egypt.

A poor man has a single coin, enough to pay for travel later that day but not enough for food, so he sits a short distance from a food vendor and enjoys the smell. The vendor, irritated, demands the man pay her for enjoying the scent. To settle the conflict, the two of them are brought before Pharaoh. After listening to each of them, Pharaoh asks the poor man to hand her his only coin. She holds it up to produce a shadow, which she tells the vendor is payment enough for the smell of the chicken.

That poor Egyptian man's name? Albert Einstein.

 

[SilentRacoon]

you were in the right. nobody should be touching your food like that.
anyone who says it's not a big deal is just afraid of confrontation.

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.

 

[Fury451]

Yeah, it's odd that he picked up your lunch and sniffed it. I probably would've been annoyed too.

You made a huge deal out of it that probably poisoned your office environment and ruined that relationship though.

It's also way over the top petty and unprofessional that you left the container at his desk. He said he didn't want it. Bad form all around.

Think a bit longer before acting on something in the future- just my two cents.

 

[Lord Panda]

I know where you are coming from OP.

The other day, a coworker had the temerity to look at my food! What gall. I threw it in his face and asked him politely to buy me some new lunch.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

That poor Egyptian man's name? Albert Einstein.

In one of the variants, I'm sure it was.

Japan: One of the most famous stories is called The Case of the Stolen Smell where he heard the case of a paranoid innkeeper who accused a poor student of literally stealing the fumes of his cooking by eating when the innkeeper was cooking to flavour his dull food. Although his colleagues advised Ōoka to throw the case out as ridiculous, he decided to hear the case. The judge resolved the matter by ordering the student to pass the money he had in one hand to his other and ruling that the price of the smell of food is the sound of money.[2]

The Stolen Smell is a timeless story from Peru, told by Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton. This folktale tells the story of a greedy baker who becomes so angered over a neighbor's happiness from smelling the fresh aromas of his bakery that he demands that his neighbor pay him a “smelling fee” for enjoying the delightful smell of baking bread. The poor neighbor is confused and does not have very much money so the baker takes him to court where the baker learns a very valuable life lesson from a wise judge.

Tales of the Turkish Trickster
The Smell of Soup and the Sound of Money

A beggar was given a piece of bread, but nothing to put on it. Hoping to get something to go with his bread, he went to a nearby inn and asked for a handout. The innkeeper turned him away with nothing, but the beggar sneaked into the kitchen where he saw a large pot of soup cooking over the fire. He held his piece of bread over the steaming pot, hoping to thus capture a bit of flavor from the good-smelling vapor.

Suddenly the innkeeper seized him by the arm and accused him of stealing soup.

"I took no soup," said the beggar. "I was only smelling the vapor."

"Then you must pay for the smell," answered the innkeeper.

The poor beggar had no money, so the angry innkeeper dragged him before the qadi.

Now Nasreddin Hodja was at that time serving as qadi, and he heard the innkeeper's complaint and the beggar's explanation.

"So you demand payment for the smell of your soup?" summarized the Hodja after the hearing.

"Yes!" insisted the innkeeper.

"Then I myself will pay you," said the Hodja, "and I will pay for the smell of your soup with the sound of money."

Thus saying, the Hodja drew two coins from his pocket, rang them together loudly, put them back into his pocket, and sent the beggar and the innkeeper each on his own way.

There's like 6 other version I saw after googling for a couple of minutes. It's probably like those flood myths that have been told for thousands of years.

 

[bchamba]

I love the smell of an immediate backfire. Please don't make me buy you lunch for that!

 

[Whales]

I can't believe OP is being serious

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Regarding the food sniffing you overreacted, if you're in the same work place you're already swapping whatever he's got/had/will have anyway.

I can agree close talkers are annoying as shit, it's a power move and they act like they're not aware of what they're doing.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

I'm a sniff all your guys' food and you better not care.

 

[z3phon]

OP, two of my coworkers and I shared lunch today. We didn't change forks.

You mad?

Nasty

and yes OP you overreacted

Spoiler

but I probably wouldn't eat it either.

edit:

Spoiler

scratch that read you're post again, if he didn't touch the food I don't see the problem.

 

[Trouble]

I would have asked what he put in my food real accusatory like and loudly.

Opening up someone else's sealed food is fucking rude and gross. Fuck that guy. I'm on your side, OP.

 

[Zeusy]

Feel like you're overreacting.

 

[Fat4all]

I'm a sniff all your guys' food and you better not care.

i make a stinky burrito, just so ya kno

 

[tuna_love]

Hey OP: I just peed and didn't wash my hands. You mad?

Spoiler

I peed in the shower

were you showering?

 

[QuantumZebra]

this all day

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Don't sniff my fucking food. I'm with you, OP.

 

[SatansReverence]

you were in the right. nobody should be touching your food like that.
anyone who says it's not a big deal is just afraid of confrontation.

Or we aren't some weirdo germophobes running around with handsanitizer in holsters on our belts.

Op was wrong. Deal with it.

 

[blame space]

it's a troll thread y'all