Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Woman Has To Defend Herself When Coworker’s Wife Confronts Her About An Affair That Doesn’t Exist
Woman helps struggling coworker in kitchen, preparing salad together with bright orange kitchenware around them.
User submission

Woman Has To Defend Herself When Coworker’s Wife Confronts Her About An Affair That Doesn’t Exist

26

ADVERTISEMENT

Misunderstandings can twist even the purest intentions into something they were never meant to be, especially when the lines between our professional and personal lives become blurry.

That’s exactly what happened to a young woman who goes by ChannelDapper8871 on Reddit. She stepped in to help a struggling coworker after his wife had to leave the country. With three kids, a demanding job, and dinner proving to be his biggest hurdle, she offered to contribute to the family’s chore list.

But what she thought was a thoughtful gesture didn’t look the same to others who saw her in the pictures posted on her coworker’s son’s social media.

RELATED:

    This woman wanted to help her coworker’s family with their chores

    Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

    But it looked a little different in their photos on social media

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits:

    People cheat on their partners with their coworkers surprisingly often

    Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

    “Grief is a universal experience,” she notes, “and when we can connect, it is better.”

    According to a Forbes Advisor-commissioned survey of 2,000 employed Americans, which was conducted by market research company OnePoll, it’s important for people to get along with their colleagues—57% of respondents said their workplace relationships have impacted their work performance.

    However, half of all survey respondents said they had engaged in flirtatious behavior with their coworkers, while a whopping 40% have cheated on an existing partner with them (note: people’s definitions of what behavior constitutes “cheating” might differ).

    ADVERTISEMENT

    So the wife’s suspicion wasn’t that unreasonable. Especially since her husband didn’t inform her about the help he was receiving, and she found out through social media.

    We shouldn’t run away from grief

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: unsplash (not the actual photo)

    It’s hard to blame her for an emotional outburst, too.

    “Grief is a universal experience,” says clinical psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, highlighting that we shouldn’t avoid our feelings during this challenging period.

    O’Connor is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona and author of The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss.

    She says grieving is a form of learning — one that teaches us how to be in the world without the person we love. “The background is running all the time for people who are grieving, thinking about new habits and how they interact now.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Adjusting to the new reality is dreadful.

    “One of the things that we know is that grief is tied to all sorts of different brain functions we have, from being able to recall memories to taking the perspective of another person, to even things like regulating our heart rate and the experience of pain and suffering. So lots of different parts of the brain are orchestrating this experience that we have when we feel grief,” O’Connor explains.

    Hopefully, the wife’s family will help her.

    A lot of people who read the story shared their thoughts on what happened as well

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Poll Question

    Total votes ·

    Thanks! Check out the results:

    Total votes ·

    17Kviews

    Share on Facebook

    Explore more of these tags

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Author, Senior Writer

    Read more »

    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

    Read less »
    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Author, Senior Writer

    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

    Rugilė Baltrunaitė

    Rugilė Baltrunaitė

    Author, Community member

    Read more »

    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

    Read less »

    Rugilė Baltrunaitė

    Rugilė Baltrunaitė

    Author, Community member

    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

    What do you think ?
    Paul Rabit
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    From everything OP said, it sounds like good old fashioned stress all around, so I don't think there is anyone to blame. I hope OP continues to do what she does. Misunderstandings happen.

    Tabitha
    Community Member
    6 months ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A better thing to do, if OP truly does have catering experience, would be to prep meals for the week, wrap them up (with instructions) for easy reheating, and make one weekly delivery of 7 days’ worth of dinners. Period. No cooking at his house, just a couple minutes, strictly at his door, to drop off prepped meals, and pick up the check to pay for the next weeks’ meals. Done. OP has helped, but neither she nor coworker have done anything that could be construed as suspicious.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    Tim Gearing
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, while the road to heaven is paved with good actions”. there is a fine line between the intentions and actions. In this case that fine line has been crossed, as the 25 yo has found out.

    Load More Comments
    Paul Rabit
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    From everything OP said, it sounds like good old fashioned stress all around, so I don't think there is anyone to blame. I hope OP continues to do what she does. Misunderstandings happen.

    Tabitha
    Community Member
    6 months ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A better thing to do, if OP truly does have catering experience, would be to prep meals for the week, wrap them up (with instructions) for easy reheating, and make one weekly delivery of 7 days’ worth of dinners. Period. No cooking at his house, just a couple minutes, strictly at his door, to drop off prepped meals, and pick up the check to pay for the next weeks’ meals. Done. OP has helped, but neither she nor coworker have done anything that could be construed as suspicious.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    Tim Gearing
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, while the road to heaven is paved with good actions”. there is a fine line between the intentions and actions. In this case that fine line has been crossed, as the 25 yo has found out.

    Load More Comments
    Related on Bored Panda
    Popular on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda
    ADVERTISEMENT