Imagine having a coworker who borrows things from you without asking. We’re not talking expensive things but small things like a notebook or pencil.

Would this bother you, or would you think it’s not a big deal?

In this story, one man is in this exact situation, and it really bothers him. Is he overreacting, or do his feelings make sense?

Let’s read the whole story to decide.

AITA for getting annoyed at my coworker (28M) for constantly borrowing my stuff and pretending it’s “just guy stuff”?

I’m 35M and I work with this younger guy, let’s call him Dan.

We’re cool, we joke around, nothing serious, just normal work vibes.

But he has this habit of borrowing my things without asking. Not personal emotional stuff, literally items on my desk.

Here are some examples of things he borrowed…

One day I’m working and realized my pen was gone. Saw him using it.

I told him “bro at least ask first.”

He shrugged and said “relax man, it’s just a pen.”

Next day, same thing but with my notebook.

He even took my phone charger from my desk while I was in the restroom.

His coworker really doesn’t seem to see the problem, so he called him out on it.

He always says the same thing, “dude we’re guys, we share stuff, why so strict.”

It started annoying me because it’s not about the items, it’s the not asking part.

So I finally told him, kinda bluntly, “stop grabbing my stuff without permission. Just ask. Literally two words. Just ask.”

He got weirdly offended and said I was acting “uptight” and making things awkward in the office over nothing.

He’s wondering if he was too harsh.

Now another coworker said I “overreacted” because Dan is young and probably doesn’t think about boundaries the same way.

So now I’m like… did I go too far? Or is it normal to want a coworker to stop touching your things without asking?

AITA?????

It’s not too much to ask that a coworker ask before borrowing something. To be petty, he could turn the tables and start borrowing things from him without asking to see how he likes it.

The problem would be if the coworker wasn’t actually bothered by having his things disappear.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person had a similar problem with their boss.

It’s not like Dan is 5. He can learn office rules.

This is a good point.

This person shares how they solved an even worse case of coworkers borrowing their stuff.

Borrowing without asking is stealing.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.