28-year-old man's coworker fakes fainting spells at work for attention, he calls an ambulance on her to teach her a lesson: "Expensive fake heart attack"

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
May 19, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Welcome to Cheezcake, people of the internet. We all know the Aesop fable about the Boy Who Cried Wolf. It's one of the most famous ones, and for good reason. It's about a boy who constantly cries to his village for help, that there's a wolf going to eat the town flock. After repeatedly being caught in his lie, when he tries to tell the village of the truth, no one believes him. It's a beautiful moral, and it's absolutely true. Sure, we all tell white lies. It's about their significance, and the reason we felt it necessary to lie. Lying for the sake of entertainment (like in the fable) is strictly malicious and cruel. Lying to protect yourself or someone else, more acceptable. Lying to your partner about anything, absolutely shouldn't be part of any healthy relationship. 

In the story below, the lie isn't between two lovers, a mother and child, or any family relationship. The lie is between coworkers, and the protagonist is absolutely fed up with his female coworkers antics. This woman continually pretends to be ill – she feigns sickness, fans herself, and acts as if she's going to fall over. Why she does these strange performative rituals every couple days at work is beyond me, but read the story below for all the juicy details. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01

    AITAH for calling the ambulance for my co-worker even though I know she was kind of faking it?

    "She's taking advantage"
    via JuYochi from Getty Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I (28M) am working in an English language center in a Southeast Asian country. There's a female co- worker in her 20s here who often touches her head and wobbles like she was about to faint, and she would lie down on the couch, letting people fan her, bring water
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661

  • This woman seems like a nightmare. What is she getting out of this performance, and why hasn't anyone questioned in 6 months why she's coming to work and nearly fainting? It says they're in Southeast Asia so it might be humid, but still. No one has questioned her bizarre behavior? 

  • 03
    and food to her. We take midday naps here, so whenever she does this, everyone's lunch and nap time is ruined, especially the ones who keep caring for her.
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 04
    This would happen at least twice a month, so over the last 5 or 6 months, I've seen a few incidents when we worked the same shift. One time she even asked me to order ice cream for her. (info, it's a
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 05
    SEYCHELLES toria Pe Doncho Cielley Arabian Agaloga is IN Ma Bay Bengal Sca Chennal appal Cal Weber Islands SILANKA Dendre Hood Salomon Is Chagos Archipelago British Indian Ocean Terr. (4) Diego Garde MYANMAR SWAY Sanda Ace THAILAND Queen Cy South Mana PHILIPPINES CAMBOGIA 2 Mark hin For Penh To Chi Minh City Se A George Kota Baha Se Med of Malacca Kota Kinaba Bandar Seri Begawan MALAYSIA kala Lumpur Zamboang Davao PALAU Celebes Sea Manado Halmaher Mands FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA ingapore N
    via Codrut Evelina's Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 06
    big, crowded city, so you can just walk to the ice cream shop nearby to grab one for a dollar). Didn't pay me back, but that's beside the point.
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 07
    This Monday, she did it again, and this time she asked a girl to order her an iced drink, a sandwich. A group of co-workers fanned her, did the whole caring thing like she's a sick child.
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 08
    I stood up from my chair, walked towards her, asked if she was OK, then I went to the men's washroom, dialed for an ambulance and went back to my seat. After 20 minutes, we heard the siren, my phone rang again, and I stood up and told her "servants" to help her to the ambulance.
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 09
    Her face CHANGED, you know, that face, when someone knows they ! up, other girls asked if I called, I said yeah, it seems more severe this time. It's best for her to go. The ambulance is here already, you'll have to pay for it regardless (the ambulance fee is about 1-2 days worth of her salary, ~50 dollars).
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 10
    Other coworkers actually agreed and helped her get on the ambulance. Now that I think of it, no one called an ambulance for her once.
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 11
    Ever since that incident, she stopped interacting with me beyond hi's and hello's (Thursday now, not a word to me). AITAH for this?
    via u/Normal_Midnight1661
  • 12
    Bar VCE
    via MattGush from Getty Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 13
    graupeltuls I had someone I was supervising act like they were having a heart attack. I was pretty confident their plan was to skip the ER and head home as they didn't want to work.
    via u/graupeltuls
  • 14
    Unfortunately for them, there is policy that does not allow someone having a heart. attack to drive, so they had to go through with the ER. Expensive fake heart attack.
    via u/graupeltuls
  • 15
    stefaniki Curious to know if her "spells" have been miraculously cured now
    via u/stefaniki
  • 16
    Frankifile I'd have called the ambulance too. As far as you know she could be severely unwell and nobody has got her medical attention, just been buying her food.
    via u/Frankifile
  • 17
    ApprehensiveBook42... NTA. Pretty manipulative way to get people to buy her stuff. I'm betting she's miraculously "cured". If not keep calling. She needs to knock this off or she truly needs help.
    via u/ApprehensiveBook4214
  • 18
    MissxJabroni | ..this is something I actually want an update on.
    via u/MissxJabroni
  • 19
    After that incident did she stop her faking for a bit? Did she continue? I feel like if she stopped for a bit, you should tell your coworkers the ambulance trick worked n they need to do it. Every time
    via u/MissxJabroni
  • 20
    you see her you should be annoying n just ask if she is feeling okay! lol
    via u/MissxJabroni
  • 21
    pigan... NTA. She has been taking advantage, now she has. It'll be interesting to see the miraculous recovery she has
    via u/pigandpom
  • 22
    Alive-Slip 1322 Nta don't cry wolf and act like you're having an emergency if you aren't. My type 1 diabetic bf likes to play all the time as a joke and I used to get angry at him becsuse I told him if there's a legit
    via u/Alive-Slip 1322
  • 23
    emergency I need to act if I think he's faking it then it takes me extra time to figure out whether it's It or not
    via u/Alive-Slip 1322

Tags

workplace-stories toxic-workplace drama work coworkers relationships lol love reddit thread Reddit funny dating
Scroll Down For The Next Article