Allergies are a severe issue.
No matter how careful someone with an allergy may be, they can really suffer due to the carelessness of others.
Case in point…
Redditor Nettie_Moore wanted to discuss their experiences. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for eating something my coworker is deathly allergic to?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“There’s a woman in my office who is anaphylactic to eggs.”
“We’ve been asked at work to refrain from bringing eggs, egg cartons, egg products etc into the office as it can trigger a reaction.”
“We’ve also been asked to refrain from eating eggs on the days we’re at the office with her.”
“This means on lunch break (if we happen to go out of office for lunch) but also prior to coming into the office too (i.e. breakfast).”
“I’m more than happy to comply with refraining from consuming eggs at work or during work hours as I know how terrible such a trigger would be for her.”
“However, I eat eggs as part of my breakfast nearly every morning.”
“So after I eat breakfast, I take a shower, brush my teeth and then get ready for work.”
“Another coworker of mine (not the one with the allergy) found out about it and called me an AH and said I’m putting our coworker in danger.”
“I explained everything I do to mitigate the risks but she wouldn’t hear any of it.”
“So, AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA?:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared our OP was NOT the A**hole.
It’s a tricky situation.
Let’s hear some thoughts…
“NTA. It’s reasonable to not have eggs at work, but absolutely absurd to expect people to change their diets at home.”
“Reasonable accommodations for others are all that anyone should ask.”
“And telling you not to eat eggs in your own home on work days is too far.”
“What next, ban eggs from the public in case she walks by?” ~ Noelle_Xandria
“I don’t want to be insensitive to the co-worker.”
“But I’m really wondering how she’s still alive if being around people who have eaten eggs hours previously in another building can trigger her allergies.”
“Like you said, how is she able to exist in public if walking by an outdoor brunch spot is dangerous?”
“OP’s egg decontamination routine should be sufficient, especially since it seems to be effective.”
“ETA: OP has said its management setting the rules more strictly than the co-worker has requested, thankfully.” ~ Covert_Pudding
“My aunt is deathly allergic to black pepper, she can’t eat at restaurants and even the tiniest exposure can make her throat close.”
“Like my mom had eaten something with pepper before we went to my aunt’s, she drank some kind of beverage that my aunt also wanted a taste of, but when she drank some she had a reaction from the tiny amount of pepper transfer on the glass.”
“It’s crazy.”
“However, I highly doubt the egg that OP eats in the morning is going to transfer to the coworker, and it’s absurd to try and make someone change their diet based on that.” ~ EskiGecko
“Exactly (or…maybe egg-xactly….).”
“Is the allergic coworker able to go to the supermarket, where they sell not just eggs, but a lot of stuff with eggs in it?”
“Does she go to movies, fly on planes, pump gas, or go to Denny’s for breakfast?”
“What if you’re on the subway and you are standing next to someone who is eating an Egg McMuffin?”
“How does she ever use an elevator, or go to the doctor?”
“OP isn’t putting her coworker in any more danger than the coworker faces on a daily basis.” ~ Shoddy_Lifeguard_852
“I once volunteered with a woman who claimed she was so allergic to all scents, no matter what they are.”
“That the person in charge required everyone to buy 100% scent-free toiletries and detergents.”
“Literally no one listened since no one was willing to have personal hygiene products and cleaning products for our families dictated by someone else.”
“All of us just refrained from using perfumes, and the woman claiming she’d die if we didn’t all acquiesce and use her ‘required’ products somehow didn’t have any issues in the end.”
“A ban on diffusers in the office is reasonable.”
“Telling someone what they can’t put on their own body is a grey area if she’s doing it at home.”
“What’s done IN the office is fair game.”
“What’s done at home isn’t.”
“Which is still going too far.”
“If someone is so incredibly sensitive to a common item that coworkers need to be banned from using that product in their own homes.”
“Even if they shower and brush their teeth afterward, then that person’s allergy rises to the level of disability.”
“The employer needs to sit down with her and explain that they can control what people have in the building.”
“But can’t, and won’t, start dictating the diets of employees in their own homes.”
“And if she can’t handle that, then different arrangements will have to be made.”
“And if that won’t work, then they’ll give her a good reference.” ~ Noelle_Xandria
“NTA. And the office is being absurd.”
“She has to come into contact with an allergen to come into contact with it.”
“And ingest, inject, or inhale it to have a systemic reaction.”
“Allergens are not proximity chemicals.”
“This has all the medical weight of an old wives’ tale.” ~ Veissella
“Eggs are one of the allergens that can be transmitted by air.”
“There are some that are way worse in that respect like peanuts or wheat but being near eggs can cause problems.”
“Therefore, the ban on eggs in lunches makes sense.”
“But what OP did should be sufficient to contain the problem.”
“After all, the one with the allergy never had any issues.”
“It’s the co-worker who wanted to be a drama llama.” ~ Tribbles_Trouble
“NTA, you don’t eat eggs at work, you eat them at home and then brush your teeth.”
“It sucks someone has this kind of an allergy… but damn how is an office full of people supposed to limit what they eat for breakfast in their own home because of 1 person?”
“And, how does this coworker handle going outside? Public transport?”
“Getting groceries? Running errands? Just generally meeting random people?” ~ Admirable-Disaster03
“NTA unless you are kissing this co-worker, food eaten nowhere near her cannot trigger a reaction.”
“The company has gone way overboard.”
“I don’t understand how eating cooked eggs even in the building with her could trigger her at all.”
“I get some of what they are asking but outside of work building is too much.”
“If her allergy was really that bad she would not be able to go anywhere, there are people eating or cooking most types of food.”
“She would never be able to actually live a normal life.”
“Eggs are in too many foods and eaten by most people in a day.”
“And you would encounter people in every single indoor place you go, there would be nowhere safe.” ~ Lady_Ellie119
“NTA, I don’t know why your coworker thinks you’re an AH for eating your own breakfast, in your own house, during your own time…. away from the office.”
“Strange lol. You do you.”
“You’re probably already more considerate than others by brushing your teeth after you eat your eggs.” ~ Optimal_Reflection97
“NTA. I have a very severe allergy where I have to carry around an epi-pen as well.”
“And I don’t see a problem with what you’re doing.”
“I usually have to beg people not to eat my allergy around me or to at least wash their hands after, so you’re doing better than most.” ~ sorenlorenson10
“NTA and I don’t understand why the company or anyone else thinks it’s reasonable to dictate what someone eats at their home.”
“That is not a reasonable accommodation by anyone.”
“If this woman is allergic to the extent that what OP does could affect her allergy, she wouldn’t be able to leave the house.” ~ telepathicathena
“NTA. Your coworker is.”
“You are complying with the allergy person’s request.”
“What you do for breakfast isn’t putting them at risk at all.” ~ MerlinBiggs
“NTA. Look, no offense to everyone with allergies out there, but… you can’t ban someone from eating an allergen several hours before they even come into contact with the person allergic.”
“It’s just not reasonable.”
“Unless of course, said person never uses public transport.”
“Or visits a restaurant or cafe or any other public building where they have no control over whether or not the strangers around them had eggs for breakfast, or 5 minutes ago.”
“And I’m talking as someone with a husband, MIL, and son all allergic to eggs.”
“AT work, yes. Fine. Outside of work? No.” ~ Shadow_wolf82
Well OP, Reddit is with you.
What one eats at home is a personal choice and no one else’s.
It’s unfortunate for your co-worker.
But this is a very unrealistic expectation.