Coworker Warns New Hire About ‘Ethnic’ Food, So Office Drama Stir-Frys Into a Mess
by Diana Whelan
A well-meaning coworker tries to help a new hire by advising her on office food sensitivities, but things quickly take a turn for the worse when HR gets involved.
Nothing is as delicious as upsetting your coworkers, apparently.
Read on for the story!
AITA for looking out for my new coworker by telling her that her food might be upsetting to others?
I (32m, white) am potentially in trouble at work, but I don’t really think I deserve it.
My coworker, “Anna” (23-ish f, asian), is new at our office and she brings her own lunch on days we don’t have a food truck.
On Thursday (yesterday), she brought in a homemade stir fry and used our shared microwave in the break room to do it.
I was in the room when she took it out of the microwave, and it smelled heavenly.
I asked her about the recipe and she told me it was just a bunch of ingredients and spices thrown together as to not waste any veggies that might go bad soon.
Looks like someone’s in hot water over stir fry and small talk—what could possibly go wrong?
When I was telling her how good it smelled, I also mentioned that some other people at the office might think it would be too smelly or ethnic (as in, racist people tend to look down on “ethnic” things).
I have read those kind of stories on here about microaggressions when it comes to people of color and the food they bring in, and I wanted to warn her that she might not want to bring it in anymore so it doesn’t happen to her.
I emphasized that it smelled good to me personally, though.
I guess a couple of the other co-workers in the room overheard our conversation, because after Anna left the room, some of them sort of quietly told me how it was inappropriate for me to have said that.
Pro tip: Trying to “warn” someone about microaggressions can backfire…and become one.
I told them that it’s true, that ethnic food gets ridiculed for smelling too strong and that I disagreed with that sentiment, but I also think she would face less harassment if she didn’t bring in that food anymore.
One of my other coworkers then said that “I was the only one harassing her” and making insinuations that her food is problematic.
Plus the fact that she hasn’t even been bringing in her own food that often since she just started last week, so there couldn’t have been an opportunity to have had this hypothetical harassment happen to her.
I just wanted people, yes, even the a**holes, at the office to make her feel welcomed.
I left work that day not thinking anything of it, until the following morning where I hear from a different coworker that Anna talked to our HR department about the conversation and how she was “hurt.”
Guess that lunch left a bad taste for everyone, huh?
I’m a bit frustrated as to why she didn’t talk to me about it first since it was just a misunderstanding and that I’m looking out for her.
I did notice that today she was trying to dodge me, which is unusual and a bit heartbreaking.
I just want to work things out.
I wanted to be a friend to her and help her out since this is one of her first jobs out of undergrad, but this has been blown of out proportion.
Now my coworkers think I’m racist, but I really try my best to be an ally, but then again what do I know?
So, am I the a**hole for telling her that her food might be a bit too much for other potentially racist people in the office to handle?
After attempting to prevent any “harassment” over her lunch, the situation escalates, leaving everyone wondering if this attempt at allyship was misguided.
Reddit’s thoughts? It was as bad as everyone is making it seem.
This person has some rhetorical questions.
This person is rolling her eyes.
And this person can’t even believe this is serious.
Guess next time, the only thing getting microwaved is the drama!
This person is so far out of line.
If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.
Categories: STORIES
Tags: · aita, colleagues, coworkers, culture, ethnic food, food, hr, microaggressions, picture, racist, reddit, top

Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.