It’s surprising what can be considered unprofessional at work.

So, what would you do if your manager told you it was unprofessional to have a water bottle at your register, even though you kept it out of the way and were just trying to stay hydrated during your shift? Would you follow the rule? Or would you find a new place to hide it?

In the following story, one woman shares a workplace moment that left her genuinely confused. Here’s what happened.

As a Cashier, is it unprofessional to have a water bottle out?

Today, I was told off by my manager for having my water bottle on the counter. And I quote, “You can’t have your water bottle out like that. It’s unprofessional.”

I replied with, “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought it was okay cause it had no logos.”

“I can clearly tell that’s a Yeti water bottle.”

The pet store doesn’t even sell Yeti.

We have one till forever broken, and so I placed my water bottle behind some stuff on the counter. The water bottle itself has no logos.

Mind you, I work at a pet store. We would never be selling Yeti water bottles.

Am I just expected, as a cashier, not to need to drink water?

Yikes! That sounds a bit ridiculous.

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit think about water bottles at work.

This reader expects more from real professionals than they do from cashiers.

For this person, staying hydrated is the least you can do for yourself.

Here’s a corporate employee who drinks water during meetings.

According to this comment, cashiers aren’t professional anyway.

That’s a really dumb rule. They need to second-think this because customers don’t care if a cashier drinks from a water bottle.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.