Vegan woman grabs free lunch from "entitled" coworkers hands when he continually takes from the vegan section, despite not being vegan, they both get a talk with HR: 'I was embarrassed after the fact'

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Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Sep 3, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Workplace drama is something else. Corporate politics really is the backbone of any workplace, and in this story there's a significant amount of corporate politics at play. The protagonist is a woman who has certain dietary restrictions. As per their contract, everyone is allotted a free lunch daily, and in the beginning of their hiring they all fill out their dietary needs. She's vegan, and says that almost everyday the vegan portions of food are nearly taken. She ends up having to buy food out, a real hassle to her work day. She sees a guy take from the vegan section knowing full well he isn't vegan. She lacks the tact in this moment to approach him professionally, and sarcastically asks him if he's vegan while grabbing the food out of his hands. 

At my work, I bring my own food in a lunch box. Luckily, no one has ever tried to eat it because I don't think it looks that appetizing. It's mostly salad ingredients, or a bit of fruit. It did happen with roommate though where there were issues surrounding food. It's never fun to have to confront someone about eating your food, and it's humiliating for both parties. Read the full story below. 

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  • 01

    AITA for grabbing lunch out of my coworker's hands

    Woman in HR meeting
    via SeventyFour / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Hey, Abit of context before i say what happened, but in our office they serve free food as per our
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 03
    contract, but its limited and you have to put in your dietary requirements on the company website and they will tally up how
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 04
    many of each they should make and only make that many.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 05
    They have vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher and gluten free options etc.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 06
    I have certain dietary requirements and I've stated that on the company website, there's
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 07
    only about 4/5 other people who have the same requirements so there will only be that many food items for us to all take.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 08
    Now the annoying thing is that, some people who in my opinion are entitled as f , think its okay to take food from other dietary
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 09
    sections, leading to people (me included) not being to have the free lunch and having to go buy it from outside the office. This
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 10
    happens almost everyday and i see a lot of repeat offenders doing it. Then you also have
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 11
    some who take 2 ... mealboxes, sometimes from different dietary sections.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 12
    Yesterday, i was extra hangry and a guy 2 places ahead of me in the queue, took 2 boxes 1 from the
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 13
    Vegan food bowl
    via Zak Hourmouzis / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 14
    non dietry requirements section and one from the section i take it from and it was the last box, since
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 15
    i grabbed lunch quite late. I kinda let my annoyance get the better of me and walked up to him and
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 16
    sarcastically asked him if he's vegan (i already knew he wasn't), he does an awkward laugh and i just yanked it out if his hand.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 17
    I did it infront of a few people and i was embarrassed after the fact and HR spoke to us both afterwards, but a couple of my
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 18
    Workplace
    via pixelshot / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 19
    close co workers think it was ahle thing to do of me. But. although im embarrassed about doing it infront of people, i think hes the bigger ah le here.
    via u/Due_Middle_2178
  • 20
    shelwood46 NTA but I hope you told HR that they need a better system for distributing the
    via u/shelwood46
  • 21
    lunches that are guaranteed in your contracts. Perhaps they need to assign someone to hand them out
    via u/shelwood46
  • 22
    and check people off the list to make sure they take only what they are entitled to, and that the special meal
    via u/shelwood46
  • 23
    people get the meals they need. This is your employer's fault for not coming up with any method for making sure *everyone* is getting the
    via u/shelwood46

  • This woman could have handled the situation with more tact, but I also understand being fed up with people taking the food. Maybe it was one meals too many that someone took from her. But she got her food in the end, even if it ended with a meeting with HR. 

  • 24
    meals that are, once again, part of your pay package. Or else they need to start reimbursing people who are forced to buy lunches because other workers stole theirs.
    via u/shelwood46
  • 25
    fiercequality Justified a h le. One person is not entitled to 3 meals, especially when it means someone else gets nothing.
    via u/fiercequality

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workplace-stories toxic-workplace drama toxic work relationships lol love workplace entitled vegan reddit thread Reddit funny money dating entitled people
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