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Employee calls out coworker after her 12-year-old son kept eating her lunch in the office: 'Now I'm afraid I'm seen as the Karen'

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  • "[Am I wrong] for stopping my coworker’s kid from using my lunch fridge?"

    I work in a small office. There are eight of us. No break room, just a mini kitchenette with one fridge a microwave and a coffee maker.
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  • One of my coworkers, Nina, sometimes brings her son, Leo [12F] in with her for the last hour of the day when his school ends early. He usually sits in the conference room with headphones on and does homework, quiet kid, not a big deal
  • A few months ago I started bringing my own lunches because eating out every day was getting expensive. I keep stuff in the fridge like leftovers, yogurt, drinks, that kind of thing. it saves me money.
  • I noticed my food was going faster than it should. At first I thought I was just forgetting what I'd eaten. Then one day I opened my lunch bag and the yogurt I had brought that morning was gone.
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  • Later that afternoon I saw Leo eating the same brand of yogurt at the conference table. He had my name written on the lid in marker....
  • I didn't say anything. And Nina was busy, so it felt awkward to bring up over a yogurt.
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  • Over the next couple of weeks it kept happening. Not huge things, just little stuff disappearing. Juice boxes. Granola bars. A leftover sandwich. It was always things that were easy to grab
  • Last week I finally said something to Nina. I told her I wasn't mad, but that Leo had been taking food from the fridge that was mine, and I'd appreciate it if he didn't
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  • She looked surprised and said she'd talk to him. Since then, Leo hasn't touched my food. But Nina has also stopped chatting with me much since I brought it up. No more small talk about random things, no more asking how my weekend was. Everything is polite but short
  • Nothing dramatic has happened but I do feel the shift which doesn't feel good to me I keep wondering if I should've just let it go, because it wasn't a lot of food and now things are kind of awkward Now im afraid I'm seen as the 'Karen' AITAH?
  • Two female coworkers speak to one another in an office environment.
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  • MiddleMuscle8117 NTA. I think Nina is simply a little embarrassed. I bet if you make a bit of an extra effort to strike up friendly conversation with her, showing her it wasn't a huge deal, things will return to normal.
  • OP sparklefuzzq Definitely gonna do that! Would be really heartbreaking and childish to lose our friendship over her 12yo eating my food Thanks for the opinion/ advise!
  • hoosiergirl1962 Maybe it's just that she feels a bit embarrassed now and that's causing the awkwardness. BTW, your title is misleading. I thought it was going to be a story about you buying your own mini-fridge next to your desk and the kid was going into it.
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  • OP sparklefuzzq Ohhh, That could be the case! | was confused and worried, thinking maybe she doesn't like me anymore and I'm a bad person. But glad you brought this up, maybe she's indeed just is a bit embarrassed Definitely gonna speak with her about this case as it's heavy on my heart. Thank you again hoosiergirl

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