'A coworker... started suggesting I didn't go to college': Coworker accuses employee of lying to get their job

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    Cheezburger Image 10424481280
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    AITA for bringing my degree into work to prove I graduated?
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    I'll try not to make this too long. I (32M) work in an office where everyone has at least a bachelor's degree (this is relevant). Most of my coworkers have their degrees framed on the walls of their offices, and some also have pictures of them at their graduations; in fact, I think I'm the only one that doesn't. I'd
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    rather decorate my walls with pictures of my wife and me on trips we've taken. I also didn't even attend my college. graduation (not much for ceremonies), so I don't have any cap and gown pictures, which has never bothered me.
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    Recently a coworker- we'll call him John- started suggesting I didn't actually go to college, and lied to get this job. The accusation was so ridiculous that I basically ignored it, but that just seemed to convince him more. He started saying dumb stuff like "must be nice to have gotten this job without doing any real work",
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    "I wish I could've gotten this job without student loans", and "if you'd gone to college like the rest of us, you'd understand". I tried ignoring him, thinking he probably just wanted to start drama, but eventually I could sense our other coworkers beginning to think John might be right since I wasn't really disputing it. I figured I'd just bring in my end to it. degree and put an
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    Now, here's the thing: I did really well in school, enough that I graduated with a "first class honors", which my diploma says. I've never mentioned this to anyone at work because it didn't feel that important- the degree itself is what matters. However, when I brought my diploma in, my
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    coworkers really focused on the "first class honors" thing. I kinda became the hotshot of the office that day, which was weird. My boss insisted I add it to my wall, saying it "looked good for the company". My coworkers then began teasing John about the whole thing, pointing out that HIS degree doesn't say anything
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    about honors, and saying it was a dumb accusation. Now John is ped off and calling me an AH, saying I made him look bad with the whole "honors" thing, and saying I could've found some other way to prove I graduated without bringing in the degree. So, AITA for bringing my diploma into work to prove I graduated and making John look bad?
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    Edit: I'm new to Reddit and definitely wasn't expecting this many responses. Thanks to the majority of you for saying I'm NTA. Now, to respond to a couple of things: Since some people asked, I work in urban planning (we're a private company, not government). It's not required that we have our
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    credentials/degrees displayed, and in fact I don't even think it's common within the industry. Just a part of my office's culture, I guess. Like I said, I never liked it much. To those of you that said my coworkers sound very childish, you're correct! Though I will say, their walls aren't EXCLUSIVELY decorated with their diplomas; they also have pictures of their families and other stuff, as I do.
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    Some of you said it would have been better for me to just go to HR instead of bringing in the diploma, and I admit you may be right. That would've been the less dramatic way to handle things. I honestly didn't expect my coworkers to make such a big deal out of the whole "honors" thing.
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    Some suggested I make a copy of my diploma since John may now try to steal/destroy it. I don't think he's quite dumb enough to try a stunt like that, especially since it would be pretty obvious that it was him. Some also said I should watch out, since it sounds like he has it out for me now. Thanks for
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    the advice, but I don't think I really have to worry. Most of us (including my bosses) know that he's a bit dramatic and I don't think he can really do much to threaten my job. After all of this, John attempted to say that his original accusation (that I didn't graduate) was a big
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    joke and he didn't actually mean it, which was obviously a lie and didn't really help his case. I can tell he's still ped, but thankfully he's mostly just ignoring me now, which is how I like it.
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    The action I took was bringing my degree into my office to prove to my coworkers that I graduated. This might make me TA because it made one of my coworkers look bad.
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    LouisV25 NTA. John stuck his foot in his mouth. Leave it there. BE PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Don't downplay your accomplishments for people that want you to seem small. HANG IT ON THE WALL.
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    SoMuch MoreEa... NTA But it really seems like this guy has it out for you. Ask him politely, but firmly to let the subject drop. If this continues, consider talking to HR.
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    automatic_mis... NTA. The only person who made John look bad is John.
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    StrangerOnRed... NTA. For John, this was a classic case of play stupid. games, win stupid prizes.
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    PurpleMarsAlien Info: what sort of industry do you work in where people hang their diplomas on the wall? I've spent my career working with many people. who have many advanced degrees and I've never seen anyone hang their diplomas. at the office. To be honest, I have several and they are probably in a box in the garage somewhere.
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    OfficeDrama123 OP We work in urban planning. I honestly think the whole diploma on the wall thing is pretty pretentious and dumb, which is why I never did it until this drama.
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    thewhizzle This has to be fake. The behavior is absurd and this reads like what ab middle school kids thinks working in an office is like
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    ApartTask0_0 ... nobody cares about it. no boss would care about this. i am calling fake.
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    J05H82 NTA Seems like it's common in your office to have it. This seems less prevalent nowadays but different offices, different cultures. Sounds like John was being ab ly and hates being
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    called out. What's dumb is it's just a piece of paper. Probably not too hard to fake one. Who knows, maybe John's is fake
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    VioletLily2 NTA So let me get this straight. John teased you, without any provocation, to an extent that he convinced a bunch of people to not trust you. And in return, he not only wanted you to prove his random accusation wrong, but he wanted YOU to be discreet and respectful of
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    his feelings, when he could extend neither courtesy to you. Duck John and every other colleague of yours who was gullible and dumb enough to get convinced by the village idiot.
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    RickRussellTX Your workplace sounds like a middle school home room.
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    Rare-Variation-... Having worked in various office environments my entire adult life, this story sounds made up for two main reasons: 1. it's rare that anyone notices or cares if a degree says summa laude or "with highest honors" or whatever. It's much more important where
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    you went to school and what your major was than if you graduated with any honors. Honors are usually based on GPA. If you went to an online school or a commuter school, it's less competitive and therefore easier to get a high gpa/honors. That is less impressive than the person who graduated without
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    honors from a competitive school, like a flagship or ivy league university. Similarly, some majors are very difficult or competitive. So between similarly competitive schools, the person with the engineering, STEM, economics, or finance degree (if it's a good b- school) is more impressive than the person who got high
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    honors in "general studies" or underwater basket weaving or whatever. 2. lots of people (even attorneys and accountants) never get their degrees framed and I've never seen anyone care other than "you should put something on your wall." You can get better art for the $200+ cost of a custom
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    framed degree. Plus some degrees just don't list honors. My grad school transcript lists honors. My degree doesn't. The school actually mailed me another degree with the honors printed on it because administration hadn't calculated class rank/honors GPA cutoffs before graduation. The professors were lucky to have finished grading exams by that date.
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    Ok_NYer_1999 No John I around and found out. Definitely not TA

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