Male Colleague Complains About Seeing A ‘Disgusting’ Tampon Box In Woman’s Locker, So She Makes The Box Look Even More ‘Extra’
Menstruation is one of the most natural bodily functions in the world. Yet it still grosses people out; even its byproducts can be “a problem.”
At the end of 2020, Reddit user DrMedBay found herself in an awkward situation. Working in healthcare, a sector where every minute counts, she started keeping a box of tampons in her locker. It sounds silly as I type this, but one of her male coworkers wasn’t happy about it and complained to the higher-ups that he could see the box whenever the locker was open.
So DrMedBay’s superior calls her in and tells her to take care of the situation. Not to spoil her story, all I’ll say at this point is that she told this story on the subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance, so that in and of itself should tell you that she found a way to follow and disobey the order at the same time.
Continue scrolling to learn how she did it!
Image credits: Zinkevych (not the actual photo)
Don’t get the wrong impression, not everyone who works with DrMedBay is like that. On the contrary, she said her colleagues are incredible, hardworking people. “I can’t count the number of times they’ve covered shifts, come in early, skipped lunch, and helped out in departments that weren’t theirs,” DrMedBay told Bored Panda. “I love them so much.”
By now, her entire department has heard about the tampon incident and they’ve all been incredibly supportive. “One coworker of mine even gave a character reference in front of the committee board for me and it means so much to me. The male coworker who complained has moved to a different shift where he has less patient contact and little to no contact with me at all.”
Once the committee board passed the petition to supply feminine hygiene products in the staff bathroom all the ruckus went mostly away. “I still haven’t received the ‘letters of apology’ from my boss and coworker that HR told them to write and I have no clue if they completed their sensitivity training,” DrMedBay said. “But my boss hasn’t had any contact with me since and actively avoids me. I have no clue what will happen when I have to ask for time off or anything else that has to cross his desk, but for now, it’s alright.”
Some men have tried to avoid similar situations by tracking their colleagues’ periods with apps. A woman talking to news.com.au, for example, said her male colleagues began keeping an eye on her cycle after an argument at work. Fortunately, most of these apps have been shut down and are no longer available.
As for DrMedBay, she still keeps the tampon box in her locker and has received Snickers and thumbs up from her female coworkers who know about what happened and see it in her locker when she has it open. DrMedBay also had a male coworker put tampons in the breast pocket of his lab coat and go talk to the coworker who complained specifically to annoy him and make her laugh. So she’s fine!
Here’s what people said after reading the story
What kind of pervert goes around checking the contents of women's lockers?
The kind that later complains to their boss about a box of tampons in someone else's locker.
Load More Replies...
I can't believe how childish and pathetic the guy and boss are being. Just ridiculous. How does that guy walk past tampons and pads in the shops? Or does he skip that aisle coz he's too sensitive.
sends his wife, he does not have time for "womens" work
Load More Replies...
Wow that guy seems pretty prudish. How's it possible when one works in healthcare?..
Fast paced health environment could concievably be anything from emergency/paramedicine to hospital pharmacy. Women's health is just a tiny blip on the radar of even a fully qualified doctor - and considering the fact that women are still running around untreated with a condition that causes the uterine wall to escape and grow in the wrong places like some kind of alien mold, it's fair to say healthcare has a long way to go before it reaches a state of equity. Plus, only doctors have to do interviews (from which zero feedback is given, if you're wondering about nepotism and transparency) to enter the uni/college courses. Allied health disciplines - including nursing and paramedicine - do nothing of the sort.
Load More Replies...
I'll just repeat what I said when I first read this story on NAR: that boss needs to face a disciplinary action. He wants to police the completely innocent contents of a woman's personal locker because some creeper gets offended by a box of tampons? Really? That's sexist. How is that boss not fired for that?
What concerns me the most is he was rummaging through her stuff. That’s scary on so many levels
My preteen son offered to walk to the pharmacy to buy me tampons when I was injured and couldn't drive. No embarrassment at all from him. The man in this story had some questionable upbringing.
You're raising your son right! Kudos to you both!
Load More Replies...
Men: Women are emotional and fragile. Also men: Ew, tampons are so icky and gross!
I wonder if he's also offended by seeing woman having b00bs, which surely must also remind him that women have bodies that do "gross" things like have babies.
This is absolutely ridiculous. I worked construction and cabinetry and was the only female with a bunch of guys. Kept my period products on the bathroom counter in our shared restroom. Only had one complaint, and it was taken care of by my male boss, without me having to change anything. He told the guy to quit complaining because without all that stuff he was so offended by, he wouldn't have even been born. That he could either grow up, or get a different job. He also threatened to make it a sexual harassment claim if I had anymore issues with this man.
What do you want to bet that male coworker’s locker has at least one Playboy centerfold picture (or equivalent nudie pic of a woman) taped up inside it? Or would have one, if they’ weren’t strictly prohibited? Women have had to put up with that s**t for decades, so this snowflake—-who works in healthcare, ffs!—-can go f**k himself if he’s put off by a box of tampons
This is all about what goes on in the brain of that man. Tampons are made of cotton, not disgusting at all. If he sees more - his problem, not yours. (Maybe someone should train him in thought-control, hehe.)
And were invented for battlefield wounds... how much more macho can you get?
Load More Replies...
This guy: "I'm offended by your tampon box!" Also this guy: *deliberately goes into locker to look at the thing that supposedly offends him* And how are you in health care, yet offended by a product designed to help with a normal body function? Are you as offended by a roll of toilet paper?
Wish I worked with you, I would be keeping a box in my locker too. FFS sone people need to get over themselves
I probably tape them all over the front of my locker so menstruating people could grab one without having to open the locker.
Load More Replies...
I suspect that he has another problem. And it's really small... and given how he uses his mouth, he won't compensate for his wee problem.
Load More Replies...
I worked at a medical office with mostly women and we would talk while eating lunch...one day we were talking about cramps or something but it wasn't anything graphic, anyway the next day our boss told us we weren't allowed to talk about period related things...apparently he overheard our lunch conversation and it made him uncomfortable.
Aw, poor ickle thing is uncomfortable. How on earth do people like that cope in the world?
Load More Replies...
Yeah, I'm a paramedic and a number of my coworkers think women pee from their vagina. Not even joking.
That is seriously scary. I know that an unbelievable amount of men and honestly some females who have never been properly educated actually think this but paramedics? My gosh!
Load More Replies...
This is the second article this week about a man being oversensitive about a woman's menstrual cycle and it brings to mind one question: Why? Why are these men so bent out of shape on the subject of periods? It is a natural part of existence and there is nothing wrong with it. The boss should be in trouble for listening to this whiny moron and the guy should be in trouble for going through her things. These people work in the medical profession and menstruation is a disgusting subject for this man? To the boss and the whiny coworker: GROW THE HELL UP! You are not in second grade worried about cooties anymore, you are in the medical profession and need to have more decorum.
When the OP says "people" are sensitive to sanitary products she really means 'men' (using the term loosely) I am genuinely shocked that men who have wives and daughters can remotely feel fragile over this. Weren't they raised by their moms? Did they not have sisters? This is the most ridiculous example of male fragility I know of. She shouldn't be hiding anything and her boss has no right to ask her to..
Sadly in some families girls are taught these things should never be talked about, hinted at or shown about especially in front of a man. I have heard of so many girls thinking they were dying when their first period came because their family was so uptight or they were raised by males. In fact one time I had my grandmothers diapers sitting on the counter- not even the same counter as the sink-in the bathroom because she was having some health problems as couldn't get herself up all the time. My uncle THREW A FIT! He doesn't want to see those blah blah blah. In like ok look it's your mother who changed you, feed you, and quite honestly babies you for wayyyy to long but she raised you better than that. You think she's not already self conscious enough? I was so angry!
Load More Replies...
What kind of grown man is "too sensitive" of something he actively checked her locker for. Grow tf up.
This guy: "I'm offended by your tampon box!" Also this guy: *deliberately goes into locker to look at the thing that supposedly offends him* And how are you in health care, yet offended by a product designed to help a natural body function? Is he just as offended at a roll of toilet paper?
A lot of things about this co-workers complaint bother me but, one thing I never understand is how, in general; men can watch other men beat each other to a pulp or shoot or blow up people in movies and videos with no problem. However, an innocuous tampon or pad sends them into a faint.
I worked with gentlemen who played computer games that involved a lot of splatter. One day, I cut my finger quite badly (damn, those sandwiches put up a fight!). Since blood was dripping onto the floor, I thought they might enjoy a little entertainment: "Look guys, I cut my finger!" I don't know why they all looked so skeeved out.
Load More Replies... This is sexual harassment. It is illegal. Both your coworker and your boss should be fired. Get a lawyer
As with school girls with dress code violations, why was the man looking?
This story should have ended at the first paragraph -- when the boss brought her in to talk about the coworkers complaint that the tampons are "disgusting", her reply should have been "They are tampons." and that *should* have been the end of the story. I can't believe the boss let it escalate beyond that - women shouldn't be forced to hide their feminine hygiene products.
Semen, feces, tears, urine, saliva, mucus, ear wax, sebum, plain old blood, etc. - all good. MENSTRUAL blood?! From inside the lady parts?! Oh no, I’m gonna barf (barf is fine) and faint and go blind! God help me! Lady blood! AAAH!
Someone needs to get him a nice cup of shut his mouth. for the love of all that is holy. Its a part of life that even we don't like but have to deal with. You shouldn't have to deal with a period and a perv.
Why in the heck is he opening the locker? So he can tell people that she, a woman, who goes through menstrual cycles once a month like a woman does, has tampons, a hygiene product that she uses when she goes through her menstrual cycles once a month, in her locker? Or is his problem that other women ALSO go through menstrual cycles once a month and take some from her locker? Or is it that he is jealous that he can't take the tampons because he, in fact, does not go through menstrual cycles, so he says "if I can't have them, nobody can?"
I would have gotten a thesaurus and put a different slang name on the box everyday...starting with "Coochie Q-Tips."
If I were her I would have filled my entire locker with tampons and pads, to the point they are falling out every time you open it.
Wait, if she's in healthcare, he must be too. I seriously wonder what kind of care a woman patient would receive from a man who thinks normal menstrual products are gross and disgusting.
It would not be adequate care and it probably would be inappropriate.
Load More Replies...
how can he work in Healthcare and be disgusted about menstruation and tampons?
I'll never get what the problem about tampons is. Europe is a great place to live. Go buy tampons as a male ... no one cares. It's a product sold in the store, end of. Also - how is an unused tampon gross? A used one, well, yeah, but that's not even the case here. Or anywhere at all. Privacy seems to be an issue there, too.
OP needs to tell her male coworkers to stop being babies and to keep their noses out of her locker if looking at a box of tampax offends them.
They…work…in healthcare. How tf does he work in healthcare if he’s that freaking sensitive about tampons???
Good grief, her male coworker need to grow a brain. Imo, unless she is leaving used ones lying around in the open then this is a non-issue. A bigger issue is the fact that he opend the locker to check if they were still in there, that should have earned him a hard slap over his hands with a ruler.
I have tampons and pads out in a basket in my guest bathroom so I (and any guests) have easy access. Once, when I had family over for my birthday, my adult cousin (39 at that time) verbally berated me for that. Apparently "that's disgusting" and "people don't need ot see that". He is married and has two teenaged daughters. I don't even want to know what life is like for them in their home, but it can't be good.
Ok Man, go ahead and tell us that something that happens all the time didn't actually happen. Were you there? If you were you'd probably either have told on her for her tampons first or been ganging up with the other man child to make an issue out of it.
Load More Replies...
Tampons are a necessary hygiene product for a normal bodily function that occurs during a workday. Nude photos and condoms are not the same thing.
Load More Replies...
You have not lived in the real world as a woman. This does not surprise me at all.
Load More Replies... What kind of pervert goes around checking the contents of women's lockers?
The kind that later complains to their boss about a box of tampons in someone else's locker.
Load More Replies... I can't believe how childish and pathetic the guy and boss are being. Just ridiculous. How does that guy walk past tampons and pads in the shops? Or does he skip that aisle coz he's too sensitive.
sends his wife, he does not have time for "womens" work
Load More Replies... Wow that guy seems pretty prudish. How's it possible when one works in healthcare?..
Fast paced health environment could concievably be anything from emergency/paramedicine to hospital pharmacy. Women's health is just a tiny blip on the radar of even a fully qualified doctor - and considering the fact that women are still running around untreated with a condition that causes the uterine wall to escape and grow in the wrong places like some kind of alien mold, it's fair to say healthcare has a long way to go before it reaches a state of equity. Plus, only doctors have to do interviews (from which zero feedback is given, if you're wondering about nepotism and transparency) to enter the uni/college courses. Allied health disciplines - including nursing and paramedicine - do nothing of the sort.
Load More Replies... I'll just repeat what I said when I first read this story on NAR: that boss needs to face a disciplinary action. He wants to police the completely innocent contents of a woman's personal locker because some creeper gets offended by a box of tampons? Really? That's sexist. How is that boss not fired for that?
What concerns me the most is he was rummaging through her stuff. That’s scary on so many levels
My preteen son offered to walk to the pharmacy to buy me tampons when I was injured and couldn't drive. No embarrassment at all from him. The man in this story had some questionable upbringing.
You're raising your son right! Kudos to you both!
Load More Replies... Men: Women are emotional and fragile. Also men: Ew, tampons are so icky and gross!
I wonder if he's also offended by seeing woman having b00bs, which surely must also remind him that women have bodies that do "gross" things like have babies.
This is absolutely ridiculous. I worked construction and cabinetry and was the only female with a bunch of guys. Kept my period products on the bathroom counter in our shared restroom. Only had one complaint, and it was taken care of by my male boss, without me having to change anything. He told the guy to quit complaining because without all that stuff he was so offended by, he wouldn't have even been born. That he could either grow up, or get a different job. He also threatened to make it a sexual harassment claim if I had anymore issues with this man.
What do you want to bet that male coworker’s locker has at least one Playboy centerfold picture (or equivalent nudie pic of a woman) taped up inside it? Or would have one, if they’ weren’t strictly prohibited? Women have had to put up with that s**t for decades, so this snowflake—-who works in healthcare, ffs!—-can go f**k himself if he’s put off by a box of tampons
This is all about what goes on in the brain of that man. Tampons are made of cotton, not disgusting at all. If he sees more - his problem, not yours. (Maybe someone should train him in thought-control, hehe.)
And were invented for battlefield wounds... how much more macho can you get?
Load More Replies... This guy: "I'm offended by your tampon box!" Also this guy: *deliberately goes into locker to look at the thing that supposedly offends him* And how are you in health care, yet offended by a product designed to help with a normal body function? Are you as offended by a roll of toilet paper?
Wish I worked with you, I would be keeping a box in my locker too. FFS sone people need to get over themselves
I probably tape them all over the front of my locker so menstruating people could grab one without having to open the locker.
Load More Replies... I suspect that he has another problem. And it's really small... and given how he uses his mouth, he won't compensate for his wee problem.
Load More Replies... I worked at a medical office with mostly women and we would talk while eating lunch...one day we were talking about cramps or something but it wasn't anything graphic, anyway the next day our boss told us we weren't allowed to talk about period related things...apparently he overheard our lunch conversation and it made him uncomfortable.
Aw, poor ickle thing is uncomfortable. How on earth do people like that cope in the world?
Load More Replies... Yeah, I'm a paramedic and a number of my coworkers think women pee from their vagina. Not even joking.
That is seriously scary. I know that an unbelievable amount of men and honestly some females who have never been properly educated actually think this but paramedics? My gosh!
Load More Replies... This is the second article this week about a man being oversensitive about a woman's menstrual cycle and it brings to mind one question: Why? Why are these men so bent out of shape on the subject of periods? It is a natural part of existence and there is nothing wrong with it. The boss should be in trouble for listening to this whiny moron and the guy should be in trouble for going through her things. These people work in the medical profession and menstruation is a disgusting subject for this man? To the boss and the whiny coworker: GROW THE HELL UP! You are not in second grade worried about cooties anymore, you are in the medical profession and need to have more decorum.
When the OP says "people" are sensitive to sanitary products she really means 'men' (using the term loosely) I am genuinely shocked that men who have wives and daughters can remotely feel fragile over this. Weren't they raised by their moms? Did they not have sisters? This is the most ridiculous example of male fragility I know of. She shouldn't be hiding anything and her boss has no right to ask her to..
Sadly in some families girls are taught these things should never be talked about, hinted at or shown about especially in front of a man. I have heard of so many girls thinking they were dying when their first period came because their family was so uptight or they were raised by males. In fact one time I had my grandmothers diapers sitting on the counter- not even the same counter as the sink-in the bathroom because she was having some health problems as couldn't get herself up all the time. My uncle THREW A FIT! He doesn't want to see those blah blah blah. In like ok look it's your mother who changed you, feed you, and quite honestly babies you for wayyyy to long but she raised you better than that. You think she's not already self conscious enough? I was so angry!
Load More Replies... What kind of grown man is "too sensitive" of something he actively checked her locker for. Grow tf up.
This guy: "I'm offended by your tampon box!" Also this guy: *deliberately goes into locker to look at the thing that supposedly offends him* And how are you in health care, yet offended by a product designed to help a natural body function? Is he just as offended at a roll of toilet paper?
A lot of things about this co-workers complaint bother me but, one thing I never understand is how, in general; men can watch other men beat each other to a pulp or shoot or blow up people in movies and videos with no problem. However, an innocuous tampon or pad sends them into a faint.
I worked with gentlemen who played computer games that involved a lot of splatter. One day, I cut my finger quite badly (damn, those sandwiches put up a fight!). Since blood was dripping onto the floor, I thought they might enjoy a little entertainment: "Look guys, I cut my finger!" I don't know why they all looked so skeeved out.
Load More Replies... This is sexual harassment. It is illegal. Both your coworker and your boss should be fired. Get a lawyer
As with school girls with dress code violations, why was the man looking?
This story should have ended at the first paragraph -- when the boss brought her in to talk about the coworkers complaint that the tampons are "disgusting", her reply should have been "They are tampons." and that *should* have been the end of the story. I can't believe the boss let it escalate beyond that - women shouldn't be forced to hide their feminine hygiene products.
Semen, feces, tears, urine, saliva, mucus, ear wax, sebum, plain old blood, etc. - all good. MENSTRUAL blood?! From inside the lady parts?! Oh no, I’m gonna barf (barf is fine) and faint and go blind! God help me! Lady blood! AAAH!
Someone needs to get him a nice cup of shut his mouth. for the love of all that is holy. Its a part of life that even we don't like but have to deal with. You shouldn't have to deal with a period and a perv.
Why in the heck is he opening the locker? So he can tell people that she, a woman, who goes through menstrual cycles once a month like a woman does, has tampons, a hygiene product that she uses when she goes through her menstrual cycles once a month, in her locker? Or is his problem that other women ALSO go through menstrual cycles once a month and take some from her locker? Or is it that he is jealous that he can't take the tampons because he, in fact, does not go through menstrual cycles, so he says "if I can't have them, nobody can?"
I would have gotten a thesaurus and put a different slang name on the box everyday...starting with "Coochie Q-Tips."
If I were her I would have filled my entire locker with tampons and pads, to the point they are falling out every time you open it.
Wait, if she's in healthcare, he must be too. I seriously wonder what kind of care a woman patient would receive from a man who thinks normal menstrual products are gross and disgusting.
It would not be adequate care and it probably would be inappropriate.
Load More Replies... how can he work in Healthcare and be disgusted about menstruation and tampons?
I'll never get what the problem about tampons is. Europe is a great place to live. Go buy tampons as a male ... no one cares. It's a product sold in the store, end of. Also - how is an unused tampon gross? A used one, well, yeah, but that's not even the case here. Or anywhere at all. Privacy seems to be an issue there, too.
OP needs to tell her male coworkers to stop being babies and to keep their noses out of her locker if looking at a box of tampax offends them.
They…work…in healthcare. How tf does he work in healthcare if he’s that freaking sensitive about tampons???
Good grief, her male coworker need to grow a brain. Imo, unless she is leaving used ones lying around in the open then this is a non-issue. A bigger issue is the fact that he opend the locker to check if they were still in there, that should have earned him a hard slap over his hands with a ruler.
I have tampons and pads out in a basket in my guest bathroom so I (and any guests) have easy access. Once, when I had family over for my birthday, my adult cousin (39 at that time) verbally berated me for that. Apparently "that's disgusting" and "people don't need ot see that". He is married and has two teenaged daughters. I don't even want to know what life is like for them in their home, but it can't be good.
Ok Man, go ahead and tell us that something that happens all the time didn't actually happen. Were you there? If you were you'd probably either have told on her for her tampons first or been ganging up with the other man child to make an issue out of it.
Load More Replies... Tampons are a necessary hygiene product for a normal bodily function that occurs during a workday. Nude photos and condoms are not the same thing.
Load More Replies... You have not lived in the real world as a woman. This does not surprise me at all.
Load More Replies...
240
108