When does a joke become something more?

If you were working with a flirtatious coworker who made comments about the way you look and called you his “work wife,” would you be bothered by that, or would it not be a big deal to you?

In today’s story, one Redditor grapples with an uncomfortable work environment due to her coworker’s behavior, and she’s not sure if she handled it correctly.

Let’s read all the details.

AITA for getting my colleague in trouble for calling me his work wife?

Some time ago I (29F) was assigned by my European based employer to work on a project at our U.S. location.

Part of my assignment was training a new hire within my special area of expertise.

This new guy is about 10 years older than me and hired for a management position; however, he is in no way my superior, as I take on more of a consulting role with the local team.

But, this employee was different…

I noticed straight away that he is very outgoing and sociable, joking around a lot with his colleagues.

Quite different from the men I am used to, as I come from a north-east European country where the male stereotype can only be described as “silent”.

Now, this is where things get awkward.

He immediately took an interest in me and started jokingly flirting and complimenting my looks.

This made me uncomfortable since we are both married, and I felt it was very inappropriate.

It also made me feel as if he did not respect me professionally when comments like “you look so cute when you’re serious” would interrupt my training sessions with him.

And then, things got really weird.

The assignment itself was a big deal to me, and I wanted nothing more than to exceed expectations, which is why I was reluctant to bring this up and “create drama”.

I tried ignoring his behavior but the last straw for me was when he started calling me his “work wife” openly in the office.

I understand that this term is used in a joking manner in U.S. office culture, but we absolutely do not have anything similar in my home country and if word would get around back home about this, I would have to explain to my husband why some random man decided to call me his wife.

To avoid this, I decided I need to put an end to the casual flirting and jokes from this man.

So, they took matters into her own hands.

I sat him down one-on-one and told him, in short, that he has to stop calling me his work wife.

He seemed like he understood, but I was maybe being too “nice” or vague in my approach towards him because he acted no different the following days.

This made me frustrated, as I felt I now have to either go to my (and his) boss and risk this reflecting badly on my assignment or risk conflict in my marriage.

That’s when she felt she had to get management involved.

I, ultimately, decided that my marriage is more important than my job and told my boss about my issue.

Luckily, my boss took me seriously and told me that he would handle it and to stop worrying about it.

I am not sure what went down after this, but the flirting and the compliments from my colleague abruptly stopped.

I was relieved, but I also felt that my colleague acted very cold towards me after this all happened. I still successfully finished my training sessions with him and the assignment and relocated back home.

But, the woman isn’t sure if she “overreacted.”

Now, in retrospect, I am wondering if I overreacted due to the cultural differences between the U.S. and my home country.

Maybe what my colleague was doing was just normal social interaction, and I acted like a complete jerk getting him into trouble with our boss for mere joking?

What does Reddit think about this? Is this kind of joking normal in U.S. workplace culture? Let’s read the comments below for a better idea.

People agreed this isn’t a common thing in the U.S.

And others felt it was disrespectful.

Some even went so far as to call it “childish.”

Others congratulated the OP for her response.

This man was behaving inappropriately in the workplace.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.