I'm not sure if this is even the right place to ask for opinions but I couldn't think of any other sub. I apologize if this is not the right place!
I live in Canada, born and raised. I have a lot of coworkers from India. We work in a daycare and I have never had any issues with any coworkers. Everyone is super nice and helpful for the most part.
A particular coworker went home to India to visit her family for a month but she's been back a few weeks now. It was nearing the end of the day yesterday, and she came into the room I'm assigned and in front of other coworkers, she asked if I gained weight. I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I said “what?” And she said it again and added she hadn't seen me in a while. I didn't know what to say. I just blurted out “Oh, probably?”. Then, she went on her way.
My coworker who is also born and raised in Canada looked at me and said she thought she asked if I lost weight at first and couldn't believe the girl said that to me.
I don't think she was being malicious? I know cultures all over the world view things differently. So I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has been in a similar situation with a coworker from a different country? Are comments about someone's weight a casual topic of discussion in India?
I'm trying to not let it get to me, but I have been under a lot of stress lately with work, school, and raising my son and I do struggle with binge eating every now and then. However, my scale says I lost 10 pounds since starting work after mat leave.
It's just a weird situation I wish never happened. I ended up hiding in my classroom alone waiting for the day to end. Kind of a shitty start to my weekend.