So I work in a small office of like 15 people.
I love to cook but normally for lunch I just bring soup to try and lose weight or buy something from one of the places nearby.
Anyway my boss loves to cook as well and it is a well known secret that it puts her in a good mood if you compliment her lunch.
Need to leave early? “Wow Karen, that salad looks delicious, where did you get it?”
“You made that? Wow!” Then five minutes later ask her to leave early and it’s no problem.
Now I was very happy with this arrangement, but at lunch one day she was giving out how ridiculous it is that all celebrity chefs are men and that it’s sexist and that she would have a Michelin star if she were a man. I am one of three men who work in my office. I thought this was insane since firstly she doesn’t own a restaurant and secondly there are many female celebrity chefs although the top three celebrity chefs who come to mind are definitely male.
I ignored it because I wasn’t going to call out my boss, but then she said “OP gets it, I bet he couldn’t reheat leftovers without his fiancé.”
This was wildly disrespectful, wildly inappropriate and also incorrect. I told her I actually cook all the meals at home for my fiancé and I. She laughed and said she feels sorry for my fiancé then.
I got mad but again said nothing.
Instead I started making lovely lunches. I’m a pretty great cook if I do say so myself.
We all usually have lunch together and instantly I started getting compliments.
Karen said nothing but with every compliment she looked like she was sucking on a lemon.
I started it out of spite and to prove a point but seeing her reaction made me keep it up.
After about a week she called me into her office saying there had been complaints about my ‘elaborate lunches’ and I had to tone it down. I played dumb and just said I had started bringing in leftovers. She jumped on that and said yeah that’s it, no more food from home. Again playing dumb, I said okay I guess. I’ll tell the others no more food from home (we don’t have a canteen) she panicked and said it was just me. I asked why and she fumbled then said no one else had a complaint against them. I asked for it in writing and she declined saying it was a personal matter. That’s when I said if I don’t have it in writing I won’t know what is acceptable and left.