Sometimes, office etiquette feels like a set of unwritten rules that no one actually explains.

So, what would you do if your workplace operated on a first-come, first-served desk policy, but coworkers kept joking that a certain seat really “belonged” to someone else? Would you just ignore them? Or would you start second-guessing yourself?

In the following story, one colleague finds himself in this situation and is unsure what to do. Here’s what’s going on.

AITA for sitting in a coworker’s preferred desk

In my office, we’re assigned to desk groups, but within each group, it’s first-come, first-served.

My coworker (both of us are in our 30s) and I are in the office most of the time. He goes in three days a week; I go in two to three. He started a few months before I did, but the current desk group setup began after I joined.

Before that, he had an assigned desk in a different area.

There’s one desk by the window that we both prefer. If I arrive and he’s not there, I take it.

People have begun to make comments.

Lately, other coworkers have been joking that I’m sitting “at his desk” or “stealing his desk,” especially on days when I arrive before him, and he ends up at another spot (usually the one I take if I come in later).

It’s true that he probably sits at the window desk more often than I do. But it’s not assigned to him, no one keeps personal items there, and the system is supposed to be first-come, first-served. I just really like sitting by the window.

I’m pretty shy, and this is my first time working in a desk office, so I’m not sure if there’s some unspoken rule I’m missing. I haven’t pushed back on the comments, but they’re starting to make me second-guess myself.

AITA?

Wow! Nosy coworkers are so annoying!

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit think about their comments.

This reader offers a few suggestions.

According to this comment, he should turn it around.

For this person, all companies should have assigned desks.

As this person points out, it’s not the other guy complaining.

He can sit wherever he wants because there is no assigned seating.

Plus, the other guy seems fine with it.

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