A woman has spoken out about a colleague who threatened to go to HR after an odd baby shower incident.
The woman, who works at a popular clothing retailer, admitted she really enjoys her job - the coworkers are great and the customers are "bearable."
But there's one colleague, who she refers to as Rhonda, that has been making her work life "living hell recently."
Everything was fine between them, and she'd even go as far as to say they were "work friends" until the woman invited her to her daughter's baby shower.
Posting anonymously on
, the woman revealed: "What I didn’t know was this was not a regular baby shower..."
Things weren't as they seemed (stock image)
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Getty Images/Tetra images RF)
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"I arrived with a gift, and was talking to my other coworkers that were there, and we figured out none of us had met the daughter. Rhonda introduced her daughter to our little group, and I congratulated her and thanked her for having us.
"She laughed and said something like 'thank you, but I’m not pregnant quite yet but it’s always good to be prepared for when the time comes.'
"I was visibly confused which seemed to offend her. After she walked away from our group my coworker explained that Rhonda had told her when they arrived that this 'isn’t a regular baby shower' and her daughter had been feeling down because quite a few of her friends had been pregnant.
"I asked the friends if they knew beforehand, but they said no, and that they were confused why they were asked to buy gifts but decided not to make a big deal about it.
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"I asked Rhonda why she wouldn’t tell us that it wasn’t a baby shower for a specific baby, and she explained 'the physical invitations explained it was a party for her daughter
to shower her with love'... well none of us coworkers got physical invitations."So, she asked if she could return the gift - this didn't go down well with Rhonda...
She continued: "I asked Rhonda if I could take back my gift since I am not made of money, and I would prefer to get her daughter a gift when she was actually having a baby.
"Rhonda said that I would be rude to take a gift back after giving it and that her daughter was going through a lot, and was looking forward to opening presents. I said I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I took my gift and left.
"The daughter sent me hateful messages over
including calling me a 'disrespectful old b***' and a bad friend to Rhonda. I feel bad for storming off, and taking back the gift if it was going to cause this much grief.
"Also I realised I grabbed a gift that was on top of mine that was from my coworker, and she said she wants me to bring it back to her and not give it to Rhonda and her daughter, but Rhonda found out and is threatening to go to HR if I don’t return the gifts, and buy something else off the registry (most the items on the registry aren’t even for babies) for the suffering I’ve caused."
She concluded her post by asking: "Am I an a**hole for taking back a gift because I was lied to?", but Reddit users were on her side.
One person said: "What did I just read?? Is this mother for real????? Please stay away, far away, from these people. Unbelievable."
Another commented: "Okay, you REALLY need to go to HR about this as she’s deliberately creating a hostile work environment for you and harassing you while being INCREDIBLY unprofessional towards your customer base and that’s NOT okay."
"This is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard," wrote a third.
What do you think she should do? Let us know in the comments.
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