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A woman who participates in a company-wide potluck says she recently made a picky coworker her own meal because the coworker couldn’t stop complaining about her food.
In a post on Reddit, the woman writes: “I work in a small office where we do a potluck-style lunch once a week. I love cooking, so I usually bring something homemade. For context, I’m Thai, and a lot of what I make has strong flavors think: garlic, fermented fish sauce, chili, shrimp paste, that kind of thing.”
While most of her coworkers “love” her contributions to the potluck, one — named Kate — does not.
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From the post: “She’s made little comments before, like, ‘Wow, that’s pungent’ or ‘Your food is so intense.’ Once, when I brought in som tam (green papaya salad), she wrinkled her nose and said, ‘Ugh, why does it smell like that?’ Like, it smells like lime and chili? Sorry it’s not a turkey sandwich, Kate.”
At a recent company potluck, the woman made a Northern Thai curry noodle soup called khao soi. “Everyone seemed to love it, except Kate, who took one bite, made a face, and said, ‘Oh, this is… strong.’ Then she laughed like it was a joke, but she barely touched her bowl. Later, I overheard her telling someone it was ‘too much spice and too many smells at once.’ ”
At the next potluck event, the woman writes, she made her usual dish plus “a plain grilled chicken breast with some steamed veggies and a little cup of ranch dressing. No seasoning, no ‘strong smells,’ etc. I left a note: ‘For Kate, since I know she prefers something simple!’ ”
Kate, the woman writes, “was pissed.”
“She said I was ‘singling her out’ and making her look bad. I told her I was just trying to be accommodating, the way she seemed to want,” she writes. “Some coworkers thought it was hilarious, others said I was being passive-aggressive. Honestly, maybe I was.”
But most Reddit commenters argued that maybe the poster wasn’t aggressive enough.
One commenter wrote that Kate wasn’t singled out but rather “singled herself out.”
Another said the poster did exactly what they would have done in the same situation, writing, “If someone is going to keep insulting your food then you don’t need to keep preparing it for them.”
“Just straight up hand her an Uncrustable,” offered another.
Read the full article here
