Most workplace problems can be solved quietly and professionally, but some people prefer to take a more explosive approach.

After a minor cleaning cart mix-up one young housekeeper found herself on the receiving end of an older coworker’s rude outburst.

But after the the young housekeeper reported the incident to HR, she wonders if she overreacted.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for going to HR?

I (19F) had a pretty sucky day at work.

I work as a housekeeper in a nursing home, and we work closely with the laundry department.

My coworker W (50ish, F) works in laundry. As a housekeeper, my cleaning cart is stored in the back area of the laundry room.

Every cart is stored in different places. There are 6 in total. Mine has always been parked there.

Soon, there was a mix-up with the cleaning carts.

We had a new housekeeper join us earlier this week, L (25F), and she parked her cart in my spot because she was going through the last of her orientation with HR.

It was 11:25, and I always go on lunch at 11:30, so I also parked my cart in that spot and went to lunch.

This is where I messed up.

Because she was forced to park her cart elsewhere, it ended up catching the attention of a very unhappy older coworker.

I ended up blocking W’s way. She brings the dirty clothes barrels through that back room to sort and wash them.

L came to me in the break room and asked me to move the cart, to which I told her I would once I was off lunch, since we aren’t allowed to do anything work-related during our lunch period.

But W wasn’t backing down.

I went back to eating, and W came to the break room and spoke to me a bit disrespectfully, asking why I wouldn’t just move the cart and saying it was in her way.

I told her, again, that I was on lunch and I’d move it after.

She stormed off, and afterward I went to speak with my supervisor, M.

Luckily, M was on her side.

I told her I felt a bit disrespected and felt as though the issue could have been resolved a lot easier and more maturely.

She agreed and told me she’d speak with W to come to a better resolution.

I moved my cart out of her way and went about my business.

Later, me, L, and another coworker, T (25F), stood in the laundry room talking.

W was still quite upset and causing a big scene.

We were about to leave when W started yelling at me, calling me a liar, saying I snitched and ratted her out to M, and telling me that she had granddaughters my age and wouldn’t tolerate being spoken to like that “by a little girl.”

M came in and tried de-escalating, to no avail.

Eventually, M did help bring a resolution, but the damage was already done.

W continued yelling, asking M why she hadn’t talked to her yet, to which M explained she was grabbing keys for me and L.

These were keys to the other janitor closets. L didn’t have one yet, which is why she parked her cart in the laundry room, since it’s open all the time and has no lock.

This was the resolution to the problem. My cart is meant to be there.

I ended up crying and feeling embarrassed and humiliated as everyone watched me get yelled at, when I wanted to handle the situation responsibly.

So she decided she wanted to escalate this to HR.

I felt as though W escalated the situation unreasonably, considering that I never approached her first and never spoke to her with an attitude or disrespectfully.

I tried going about things professionally with our supervisor, but W didn’t even give her the chance to mediate.

After that, L and T took me on a walk to calm down.

I did, and by that point my shift was over.

I went to HR and reported the incident, but I feel I may have overreacted.

So, AITA?

A simple misunderstanding shouldn’t have become such a public spectacle.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter wonders why this grown woman couldn’t have moved the cart on her own.

Part of having a job is playing well with others.

This woman definitely needs to grow up and act her age.

What started as a blocked cart ended as a crossed line.

You have to choose calm over chaos, especially at work.

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