Navigating workplace dynamics can be challenging, especially when personal struggles come into play. In today’s story, this complexity took a new turn when a coworker, who tragically lost his wife during the pandemic, started bringing his two toddlers to the office. Reddit user justwantedtoexplore shared that her office setup changed to individual rooms due to safety protocols, and initially, none of the coworkers objected to his request to bring his children along. However, OP quickly found herself in a difficult situation as he repeatedly left his kids in her office without asking, expecting OP to babysit while he attended meetings or even went out for lunch.
Despite OP’s attempts to address the issue directly with him, the behavior continued, leaving her with no option but to have HR involved.
2. Things got financially tougher for OP’s coworker, who lost his wife to COVID-19 and had to take care of his two toddlers by himself.
3. The coworker requested that the office let him bring his kids to work. With everyone now getting rooms instead of cubicles, after the pandemic, everyone was fine with this request.
4. OP being the only female employee on the floor, the coworker often left his kids in her room.
5. The issue with this is that he doesn’t even ask permission, he just drops the kids off.
Umm, hello? Is OP’s room an office or a daycare center? I think the coworker needs to be made clear about this because he is misunderstood. Had he sought permission, then the scenario might have been completely different but he does it without informing. Say, he wants to stay away from his kids to focus on his work, then what wrong did OP do to have her concentration deviated?
OP is exhibiting some AH vibes. OP needs to address this. Let’s see what happens next. Scroll down below to continue reading!
6. One time he left his kids in OP’s room to go out for lunch with his teammates. That did it for OP as she went to HR and filed a complaint.
7. The coworker told OP the only reason he went for lunch was that he wanted to be on the good side of the manager to get early raises/promotions.
8. And that he would lose a lot of focus with his kids around, not allowing him to reach his targets.
9. As the word spread, everyone in the office except OP’s team and her manager called her an AH. The matter was taken to the courts of the AITA community.
10. So he always had a strong rationale to leave his kids with OP.
