Sharing a space with coworkers can be difficult, since everyone has different habits, but sharing a desk is even worse.

In this woman’s case, her coworker completely disregarded that she has coeliac disease and demanded she clean their desk and the fridge, even though she left bread crumbs everywhere.

She refused, her coworker retaliated, and now she’s wondering if she’s in the wrong.

Read the story and see how things played out.

AITA for telling my coworker I won’t clean up our shared desk.

I have started a new job working for my dad as a medical receptionist at one of his practices.

It’s extremely lowkey and I am only working (I have chronic pain) to help him out on days he can’t come in as he’s desperate for someone to cover phones and admin on those days.

The woman who has been working here has been working here for 10 years and is very serious about her job which is great, but a bit stressful for me.

She doesn’t respect her space.

I have Coeliac disease, so one crumb of gluten and I’m done for, lol. I’m talking sick for weeks and have had to go to the hospital.

I am also developing anaphylaxis to wheat, I break out in hives and face rash etc and have an epi pen just in case it happens.

Anyway, I get in today and it’s like she’s literally eaten a crumbly baguette all over the desk and keyboard etc.

Of course, she was extremely worried.

I didn’t even notice so it’s already touched all over my hands and mouse…. I cleaned it up in a panic with wet toilet paper because I have nothing else here.

I’m honestly scared and upset.

But her coworker didn’t seem to care.

She messaged me asking me to clean out the mini fridge which was just a bunch of sandwiches of hers, I said:

‘No, I’m sorry I’m not going to clean them out as I don’t want to touch them due to my allergy.’

She said I have to, as it’s part of my job and that the bins go out tomorrow.

I told her ‘sorry, I’m not doing that’ and if she brings in food and leaves it in there then that’s HER job to clean up after herself.

Sounds fair, but her coworker had the nerve to double down.

She let me know that she will be forwarding this to Mark (fake dad’s name, lol) and I replied saying:

‘Well, if it’s my job to clean out the fridge, then it’s your job to clean up after yourself and not leave over 50 giant bread crumbs over shared equipment and also go get some empathy’.

If this was a peanut allergy, I feel like I’d be taken more seriously, but people for some reason don’t think coeliac disease is a real thing.

AITA?

It’s almost as if her coworker is trying to get fired.

Let’s see if Reddit has any insight into this situation.

A reader shares their thoughts.

This commenter shares their opinion.

Another reader chimes in.

Important questions.

Exactly.

It’s not even about the allergy.

Allergy or not, her coworker is acting unhinged.

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.