AITA for asking my coworker to not eat tuna in the break room?

A pregnant woman, struggling with heightened nausea and sensitivity to smells, asked her coworker to stop eating tuna in the break room after it repeatedly triggered her to vomit.

While she tried to explain that the smell was unbearable due to her condition, her coworker got upset, left the room, and now other colleagues are calling her an AH, saying she can’t dictate others’ food choices. Even HR is now involved. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for asking my coworker to not eat tuna in the break room?’

So… I am very pregnant right now. Still in the first trimester, but rhe symptoms HIT. I am nauseaus all day and i cant eat anything warm really, i have been living on cold sandwiches and fruits, because that is all my body can tolerate right now. My sense of smell is also hightened.

So, my coworker loves tuna. He eats everything with tuna, specifically a spanish brand with tomate puree in it. I used to like it, before i was pregnant, even though the smell is quite… strong. The problem is he doesnt keep the tuna refrigerated, he literally pulls it out of his work bag, and especially in the summer, he stinks everything up.

Usually i do notice but i can manage, but lately, i cant stay around that smell. I have barfed way more than i wanted to admit. Yesterday, after I came back from my barfing i asked him if he could please eat something else.

My throat is hurting from barfing everyday and i just cant anymore Dude got red in the face and left the breakroom ( he left his tuna too). Now people are calling me an assshole, they told me i am not e**itled to dictate what someene else eats. I tried to explain, but apparently hr is also involved too.. So was I really the AH?

 

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

Ok-Classroom5548 −  YTA You could have politely let everyone know that you are having a sensitive stomach and that strong smells are an issue for you.
But you chose to express your issues with barfing while someone else is eating and in the lunchroom.

You also did it in front of other people are singled out a specific coworker. You could have quietly emailed hr or your coworker and explained the situation. You could have requested EVERYONE be sensitive with smells if they could but that you understood it is your burden to bear and will do your best to mitigate,

but that any help is appreciated, because it would be a favor to you out of kindness. You being at your limit does not entitle you to embarrass or single out another coworker, or talk about your barfing while other people are eating. 

Proud_Fee_1542 −  YTA. You can’t expect everyone in the office to bend over backwards and change their day to day life because you decided to have a baby. That was your decision, not their’s.

You even said in your post that you had no issue with it before you were pregnant so it’s not a ‘him problem’, it’s unfortunately a ‘you problem’. You should apologise to your co-worker and instead try to come up with other solutions that you have control over.

For example, speak to your doctor about your sickness and see if they can give you any medication to help with it, or if you see your co-worker going for lunch, hang back and wait until they’re done before you have your lunch. Or you could eat your lunch at your desk so you aren’t sitting in the break room.

Pretzelmamma −  YTA it’s the break room, people eat in there. If you don’t like the smell go elsewhere. It is not your private space. 

blooming-darkness −  I’m going to be the only one to say this but NTA. Everyone knows fish is a no go in the break room, especially if you have to heat it up. It’s literally an unspoken rule. It’s a shared space and everyone should be courteous of others and not bring smelly food. You definitely could’ve asked him in private tho.

Severe_Assignment943 −  “he literally pulls it out of his work bag” What a bizarre use of the word “literally.”

Cautious_c −  NTA. He could refrigerate his tuna at the very least. Tuna is also a smelly food and it’s not nice to bring super smelly foods to shared break spacesv

wowagressive −  NTA – it’s probably biased, but ANYONE who has tuna at work like that is the AH. They know it stinks. Everyone knows it stinks and they go “idgaf I do it anyway”.

EatsPeanutButter −  NTA! What on earth are these comments?! He is imposing his fish smell on everyone every day! I’m not pregnant and that would drive me crazy! It’s not cool at all to make a shared break room stink like fish every day, even if it’s *not* making your coworker violently throw up.

Would all these y-t-a commenters want to spend their break in a room that reeks of fish every day? Just ew. It’s common courtesy not to eat super stinky food in shared spaces. Of course you’re NTA. Don’t listen to them. Reddit just hates pregnant women for some reason.

Poncoso −  YTA It seems you’re the only one bothered by that smell and you can’t ask him to stop eating something he’s used to eating every day because you’re pregnant. It’s up to you to find other solutions, such as not eating at the same time as him.

Perfect-Win165 −  You’re not the j**k. like wtf are others saying down there? “It’s your fault, you got yourself pregnant“ like? What’s their problem?
that coworker should have been a bit more understanding.

although I never have been pregnant (I really want to be a mum in the future😭🙏) I can understand why you barf when you smell strong stuff. I have a… let’s say keen sense of smell and it’s annoying.

Was she wrong to make the request, or are her coworkers being insensitive? What do you think? Share your thoughts below!