Almond mom coworkers turn every lunch break into passive-aggressive critique session with constant food shaming, leaving a young professional uncomfortable and frustrated: ‘One coworker straight-up said, “I just cringe when I watch you eat”’

As kids, the teachers' lounge was a place of legend—a secretive realm where we imagined our teachers doing all manner of mysterious things. Did they plot pop quizzes there? Plan their next evil scheme involving group projects? Maybe they just turned into regular humans for thirty minutes and complained about us. 

What we didn't imagine, not even once, was that the teachers' lounge was home to a panel of self-appointed food critics eager to pass judgment on anyone daring to eat something with too much sugar or, heaven forbid, a beige color palette.  

For one young employee, the teachers' lounge has become less of a breakroom and more of a performance space for his coworkers' critiques.

Fresh out of college, he enjoys simple, stress-free meals. But his older coworkers, whom he calls  "Almond Moms" for their veggie-and-hummus lunches, seem to find his food choices endlessly fascinating. At first, it was mild—jokes about his Captain Crunch or the "beige-ness" of his meals—but it's escalated to comments like, "I just cringe when I watch you eat."