Redditor Sparks Drama By Refusing To Move Out Of 'Demanding' Coworker's Chair In Break Room

We all have things in our day-to-day lives that we like to sustain as a routine.

These might include using a specific treadmill at the gym, sitting at a particular table in our favorite coffee shop, or reading on a particular park bench.

As much as we consider these items or locations "ours", the truth is, they are fair game and free for anyone to use.

Though not everyone is quite so understanding.

Redditor Just_proving_points_ had a coworker who was getting a bit comfortable doing things her way at work.

While this didn't sit terribly well with the original poster (OP), they tended to go along with it to maintain a healthy environment at work.

However, one recent demand from the OP's colleague proved to be one thing too many, and the OP flatly turned her down.

A move that did not sit well with the OP"s colleague at all.

Wondering if she was being unreasonable, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:

"AITA for not moving out of my coworker’s 'seat'?"

The OP explained why they were determined to stay put:

"I’ve been working with this coworker, Jasmine, for about 7 months and we became friends."

"I give her rides to work sometimes, and she and her mom have given me a ride home before."

"I don’t mind helping her, and I appreciate the things she’s done for me, but lately I’vebeen getting really irritated with her."

"She can be pretty demanding."

"She’ll tell/ask me to do things and I usually just do them because I don’t want to make a big deal out of it."

"But it bothers me because she doesn’t seem to have the same energy with everyone else."

"She’s even said she only listens to our GM, Jade, and basically ignores our night shift manager, Christian, when he asks her to do something."

"She also gets into a lot of confrontations with people."

"She’ll talk crap about other coworkers, but gets extremely defensive if anyone says something about her."

"She’s gotten into several arguments over things like this."

"The biggest thing happened today."

"There are 5 chairs in our break room, and there are no assigned seats."

"Jasmine usually sits in the same one or two chairs."

"The first time I sat in one of her usual chairs, she immediately said, 'Girl, get out my seat'.”

"I told her, 'You don’t own it. Your name isn’t written on it'.”

"She kept telling me to move and got annoyed, so I eventually moved because I didn’t feel like arguing over a chair."

"Today, I was in the break room with 3 other coworkers."

"Carrie was sitting in the chair Jasmine had gotten upset about the first time, and I was sitting in another chair Jasmine usually sits in, which is closer to the door."

"Jasmine walked in, stood in front of me, and said something like, 'Bruh, get out my chair'.”

"I said, 'I thought that was your seat', referring to the chair she was already sitting in."

"She told me to just sit in the other chair, and I said, 'You sit there too'.”

"This time I didn’t move because, again, there are no assigned seats, and there were enough chairs for everyone."

"Carrie even said, 'I know we don’t have assigned seats'.”

"Jasmine got mad, walked away, and said, 'You’re getting on my f*cking nerves'.”

"What bothered me was that Carrie was literally sitting in one of the chairs Jasmine had previously claimed as 'her seat', but she didn’t have the same energy with Carrie that she had with me."

"It felt like she specifically expected me to accommodate her."

"There’s also been another issue where Jasmine has said things like, 'My mom gave you a ride, so don’t do that', during arguments."

"I appreciate the rides her mom has given me, but I’ve never used that against her or acted as if she owes me something because I gave her a ride."

"Then after all that she tries to talk to me like everything's fine and I'm not in the mood."

"So, AITA for refusing to move out of her 'seat'?"

Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:

• NTA - Not The A**hole
• YTA - You're The A**hole
• NAH - No A**holes Here
• ESH - Everyone Sucks Here

The Reddit community firmly agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for refusing to give up their seat for Jasmine:

Everyone agreed that Jasmine needed to be taken down at least one peg, with just about everyone also encouraging the OP to stop sharing rides with Jasmine as well:

"NTA."

"Stop giving her rides."

"She’s your coworker, so you stay friendly and professional, but you don’t need to do any more than that."- Yocta

"NTA."

"But don’t accept another favor from her again and keep it brief but professional with her at this point."- MissJoey78

"What you are experiencing is “'Fatigue' from dealing with an entitled AH."

"You are NTA."

"She is not your friend."

"At least you know that now and can act accordingly."

"Do not tolerate this behavior."

"Notify HR if Jasmine escalates this situation."- Objective_Place9599

"Report to HR Also, NTA."- Porkkanaparta

"NTA."

"But I'd start distancing myself from her, just treat her as a work colleague."- Impossible_Apple7822

"NTA."

"She sounds ridiculously entitled."

"I agree with the other person that said to report her to HR."

"Not sure what it will accomplish, but if she continues to harass you, you may have no choice."

"Maybe record her a couple times as proof of the way she treats you."

"You shouldn't need to deal with that."- QuickAlps756

"NTA."

"But stop giving her rides and stop accepting rides from her mom."

"She is trying to bully you and put you in your place for some reason."- Competitive_Fee_5829

"NTA."

"But grow a spine, stop giving in to her BS, and stop giving her rides."

"You know this will escalate, so be ready to go to HR."

"Also, this is the most important thing: she isn't your friend."- Designer_Thought2907

"NTA because that's simply not 'her seat'."- Frankensteins_Kid

"NTA, she has that energy with you because you roll over and do what she says."

"She knows she can’t get away with it with other people."

"Put distance between you."

"No more rides from you (and you don’t get rides from her mum) and you two aren’t friends."

"You’re coworkers."

"If she continues to swear at you when you don’t do as she says, then you report her to HR."- Not_Good_HappyQuinn

"Janine: move out of my chair."

"OP: but I've already farted on it."

"Can you tell I have siblings?"

"NTA."- Low-Television-7508

"Yikes, I’d start to casually distance myself ASAP. Stop giving rides because you got someplace to be, things to do, etc. and do not accept anymore rides."

"NTA but homegirl is."- OppositeBother2496

"NTA."

"I wish i can lend you my resting b***h face."

"I have no patience for entitled, arrogant people."

"Next time she does that, just stare at her pointedly with one arched eyebrow."

"Don't say anything."

"Even if she keeps on blabbing, don't respond."

"She's doing that to you because she knows she can walk all over you."

"Call her out on her bs and stop being a doormat."- Hot-Entrepreneur1132

"NTA."

"J was engaging in a 'Dominance Display', trying to let you [and others] know who she perceived as the boss, herself."

"It's not about a chair or a ride."- martintoconnell

"NTA."

"She isn't your friend, she is your bully."

"Don't give her rides and stop doing anything for her."- Dry-Personality-9123

"NTA, she's stopped appreciating your kindness and feels entitled to it."

"Also, she talks about you behind your back."

"You should know that, because if she's talking to you about other people, then she's talking with other people about you, that's just how those kinds of people operate."

"Don't mistake friendliness for loyalty."- TheCraftyHermit

There were a select few, however, who had trouble sympathizing with the OP, only because they felt she needed to put Jasmine in her place earlier:

"ESH."

"Her, obviously for her attitude, but you too because you need to realize that your attitude of doing what she demands because you don't want to 'make a big deal' out of it is over half of the problem."

"It's like there were weeds sprouting up in the garden, but instead of plucking them out when they were small, you watered them and then were surprised they became huge and spread all over the garden."

"It's almost certain that she doesn't cope with the same attitude with the other coworker because she hasn't 'watered the weeds' the way you have."

"You have allowed the garden of your relationship to become weed-ridden, and that's why you especially are targeted and why her behavior has gotten worse."

"You might think it's unfair of me to blame you when she is the one acting badly -- but here's the thing."

"She isn't here posting."

"Also, while you can't directly change her behavior, you can change your own behavior, which will then indirectly influence her behavior."

"If you weed the garden and only water flowers, you'll have a completely different garden over time."

"In one way I want to say NTA because not moving out of the seat was the right move -- but it needs to be the start of a whole change of attitude and behavior on your part if you want things to change."

"There will be conflict, but so what?"

"With people like that you can live on your knees being treated like a doormat, or you can live on your feet sometimes bumping heads and pushing back when they try to push you to your knees."

"And conflict doesn't have to be aggressive."

"Boxing clever, especially in the workplace, is the way to go."

"You can keep your words polite while not giving an inch."- kurokomainu

It would be one thing if Jasmine had one chair that she preferred above the others.

From the sound of it, though, it almost seems that Jasmine just wants whatever the OP is using at any given moment.

Jasmine better start watching herself, as the OP likely won't be her last work adversary if this sort of behavior keeps up...