The big things in our life, from promotions to marriage or pregnancy, we like to share with the people closest to us before we let it out to our social circle. Also, there are some sensitive things that we prefer to reveal to other people only when we feel the time is right. Now, imagine how frustrating it must be when this right time is taken away from you.
No wonder our poster Austin-4throw was shocked out of her wits when a coworker “announced” her pregnancy to the office. She was so angry at this intrusion of her private life that she wanted to report him, but the other colleagues were against her.
More info: Reddit
Woman has been working for a company for the past 4 years, building great relationships with her coworkers and Austin is one of them
Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics (not the actual photo)
Although Austin is very sociable, she strictly shares a professional relationship with him, but one day, he grabbed everyone's attention just to announce her pregnancy
Image credits: u/Austin-4throw
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Apparently, he saw the news on her dashboard when she gave him a ride, and completely shocked by this private invasion, she lashed out at him in front of everyone
Image credits: u/Austin-4throw
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
He said that he wanted to share their joy with everyone but she said that she was going to report him to the seniors and stormed out of the room
Image credits: u/Austin-4throw
The other female coworkers said that she was being rude to Austin's "nice gesture" and she should apologize to him, but she felt her privacy had been violated and went to seek online advice
In today’s story, our female protagonist reveals how her personal life was publicized by a coworker and how she totally hated it. She has been an employee of a company for the past 4 years. Over that period, she has developed quite a good bond with the other employees and Austin is one of them. So, this guy is one of those people who easily adapt to new people and are extremely sociable. But sometimes, such people might just cross the line and jeopardize things for someone else.
And that is exactly what Austin did. What happened is that the original poster (OP) recently found out that she was pregnant, and she and her husband were the only secret keepers of this sensitive news. However, one day at work, right during lunch break, Austin asked for the room’s attention and unabashedly announced that OP was pregnant. Quite a jaw-dropping moment, right?
Well, like most of us, the woman was absolutely stunned and rooted to the spot with shock, while people rushed to congratulate her. Probably burning with anger, she asked Austin about how he found out the information. Austin replied, “Remember when you gave me a ride the other day? I saw your pregnancy test result on the dashboard."
And as is natural for any of us, the woman lashed out at him in front of everyone. She questioned him about the reason why he felt he could share her private medical information in the workplace. According to Austin, he wanted to share (to quote him exactly) “our joy” with everyone rather than just keeping it between the two of them.
The other employees were asking OP to calm down but she burst out with anger and told Austin that he was out of line and she was going to report him to the seniors. And with a shocked Austin–standing with his mouth open–she stormed out of the room. How theatrical is that? Now here’s what’s more annoying. Her female coworkers came up to her and told her that she was being rude when he just wanted to pull off a “nice gesture”.
They even accused her of “overreacting”, being “too sensitive”, and also “hurting Austin” when all he did was share some good news. They even asked her to apologize to him. Feeling that her privacy was completely violated and her opportunity to share the news stolen from her, she sought advice from Redditors.
Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual photo)
Many of the online peeps felt that Austin had no right to do what he did and anger from the poster was natural due to his actions. They said that it was not at all a nice gesture, but rather just a scene-stealing moment. They even called him an “attention-seeker” and OP also agreed with these comments, stressing how “he always goes looking for attention”.
“Wanting to be the center of attention and being quite comfortable in the limelight is a classic sign of narcissism. A workplace narcissist is remarkably charming, shows a sense of entitlement, and lacks empathy,” mentions Katrina Murphy (Professional Intuitive Mindset and Confidence Coach) in one of her articles. Austin ticks all the boxes of a narcissist, doesn’t he? But he’s not the only one. Surprisingly, research shows that between 0.5% and 5% of Americans have Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
People said that his invasion of her privacy was completely inexcusable. They advised her to go and for sure report him to the seniors. They even questioned the behavior of the other workers who accused the poster of being rude to him. To understand the work dynamics and the corporate outlook in such situations, Bored Panda interviewed Pratiksha Hajare, an HR Officer at Datwyler IT Services.
She said, “It is unethical and unprofessional to publicize any colleague's private life in office. This can create an unfavorable environment for their work in the future, also jeopardizing their work relationships.” It seems like we can’t agree more. Not only did Austin ruin his relationship with the poster, but he also put her in a position where she faced reprimand from other employees as well.
According to Pratiksha, “An employee who shares a colleague’s private information may or may not be penalized, depending upon the severity of their actions and also the policy of that particular company.” As per the netizens’ advice to OP about reporting the man, whether he will be held responsible for his actions or not will depend on the company.
Some folks also stressed that Austin needs to be taught a little lesson from the book of “boundaries”. Zac Houghton, CEO of Loftera, said in an article for Forbes, “People cross boundaries too often, which is why boundaries are necessary. Don’t view boundaries being violated as a setback but rather an opportunity to improve your communication and boundary-setting skills.”
Looks like OP can seize this opportunity and work on her boundary-setting skills so that people like Austin don’t ruin things for her further. But now, we want to hear from you, and all you have to do is scroll down and type away. We look forward to your thoughts!
People backed her up and called out Austin for robbing her of the opportunity to share her news, even labeling him an "attention seeker" and "narcissist"
