Leaving a job after four years comes with plenty of small rituals, and one man’s farewell cake turned out to be more controversial than anyone expected.

His team threw him a modest goodbye party complete with cake, a kind gesture he barely had time to enjoy since he spent the whole event saying goodbye to coworkers instead of eating.

By the time things wound down, exactly one slice remained, untouched for a solid ten minutes, so he grabbed it and ate it by the sink.

Coworker Sarah clocked the moment immediately, joking “Wow, at your own party?” before later escalating to calling it a “main character move,” apparently because he hadn’t offered to split a piece of cake that literally nobody else had reached for.

Now what should have been an uneventful last day has become an ongoing office bit at his expense.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for eating the last slice of cake at my own goodbye party?

Left my job last week after four years. Team threw me a small goodbye party, cake and all. Nice gesture, genuinely.

But here’s where the drama comes in.

Problem is, I was so busy saying bye to everyone that I hadn’t eaten a thing. By the time things wound down, one slice was left.

I grabbed it, ate it by the sink.

His coworker immediately made it a bigger deal than it needed to be.

Coworker Sarah saw and went, “Wow, at your own party?” Half-joking.

Then not so joking later, calling it a “main character move” since I hadn’t offered to split it and others hadn’t had seconds yet.

The employee tries to defend himself, but the damage is already done.

I pointed out the slice sat there ten minutes, untouched, while I was literally busy being social. Nobody moved for it. Now it’s an office bit, half joke half judgment.

AITA for eating my own farewell cake?

No one likes to be the office spectacle.

What did Reddit have to say?

His party, his cake.

This is one of those things that will blow over eventually.

This user really doesn’t see the big deal.

Maybe Sarah had different intentions with her teasing.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who wants her daughter to help pay for her own cell phone, but her daughter says she can’t force her to get a job.

There’s a certain irony in getting side-eyed for eating cake at your own goodbye party, especially cake that sat completely untouched for ten full minutes while you were busy actually being social with the people throwing the party.

Let’s rewind. Nobody else made a move, nobody asked for a piece, and somehow the person who spent the entire event saying heartfelt goodbyes is the one accused of a “main character move” for eating dessert.

If anything, this was the one day where being the main character was kind of the whole point.