Corporate dinners are usually just a chaotic mix of awkward small talk and pretending to actually like your coworkers. You expect to suffer through some dry chicken, politely laugh at bad jokes, and go home. But one woman on Reddit recently experienced the absolute worst company dinner in recorded history. Her new boss’s wife managed to turn a basic menu order into a massive psychological meltdown, and the internet is rightfully furious on her behalf.
The Original Poster is a young woman working part time at a very close knit IT company. It was only her first month on the job when her boss, Steven, celebrated his birthday week. To mark the occasion, Steven and his wife, Melissa, generously decided to treat the entire office to a fancy dinner. A week before the big night out, Melissa created a group chat and asked for restaurant suggestions. The Original Poster politely replied that she was fine with absolutely anything, as long as the restaurant had vegetarian options or at least some chicken.
When the dinner finally rolled around, Steven and Melissa brought their fifteen year old daughter, Stef. Stef immediately took a liking to the Original Poster and started asking her lots of personal questions about her appearance. The Original Poster is a petite woman, standing at five feet tall, but she is very fit. Stef was curious about how she maintained her physique, so the new employee offered some incredibly healthy, balanced advice.
Being completely transparent, the Original Poster told the teenager that she absolutely never restricts herself to certain foods. Instead, she eats everything in moderation, lifts weights, and mostly eats home cooked, plant-based meals. It was a perfect, healthy answer. However, Melissa overheard part of the conversation and immediately pulled the new employee aside. Melissa revealed that Stef was recovering from an eating disorder. She sternly warned the Original Poster not to lie to her daughter and specifically demanded she not order anything that screams diet food.
The massive problem started the second the Original Poster opened the menu. The fancy restaurant had absolutely zero vegetarian entrees available. She expressed her disappointment, and Melissa completely dismissed her. Melissa obnoxiously told her that eating meat once in a while would not affect her weight. The Original Poster had to explain that her plant-based diet is not a weight loss tool. She only eats chicken once a week and occasional fish because her diet is strictly tied to her religion and culture. It has absolutely nothing to do with being skinny.
When the waiter finally arrived at the table, the Original Poster was still desperately scanning the menu for something she could actually eat. When it was her turn to order, Melissa aggressively tried to order the duck for her. The Original Poster politely interrupted and stated she would just have the garden salad. She actually hates salads, but it was literally the only vegetarian item available in the entire building. Melissa immediately went dead quiet.
A few minutes later, Melissa unleashed a completely unhinged verbal assault. She aggressively accused the Original Poster of lying to her vulnerable daughter by ordering a skinny salad and starving herself. She had the absolute audacity to compare her husband’s new employee to toxic Instagram influencers who lie to impressionable young girls. Melissa loudly declared that the Original Poster had just triggered her teenager’s eating disorder simply by ordering a bowl of lettuce.
The Original Poster desperately tried to defend herself. She reiterated that she only ordered the salad because there were literally no other options that fit her religious restrictions. Melissa completely ignored all logic and demanded the employee just suck it up and eat the damn duck. When the Original Poster reminded her again that it was a religious boundary, Melissa crossed the line into blatant bigotry. She claimed that if the Original Poster eats chicken occasionally, she can obviously eat any other animal, accusing her of putting on a completely fake act.
The Original Poster was so humiliated by the verbal attack that she immediately got up and left the restaurant. The internet completely rallied behind her, universally crowning her not the a**hole. You do not invite an employee to dinner, completely ignore their stated dietary restrictions, and then scream at them for ordering the only thing they can legally consume. Melissa weaponized her own daughter’s trauma to bully a woman over her cultural and religious beliefs. The only thing this new employee needs to order next is a meeting with the HR department and a brand new job.