Woman demands colleague pay $80 for two expiring takeout meals, gets offended when they don't want to take them: 'I could tell she was annoyed'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 26, 2025 9:00 PM EDT

Lunchtime is an important part of the 9-5 office ritual, and how people choose to eat at this time can say a lot about them. There is a hidden divide between those who eat out every day and the religious meal preppers; it reveals a lot about everything from planning skills to money spending patterns.

As a result, the break that employees take to eat can prove to be a real battleground for office politics. As a time (for some, at least) to socialize outside of the confines of working together, it can sometimes wind up being more stressful than the job itself. It can be a game of which table to sit at in the school lunch hall all over again, but this time, potentially even more awkward. With all the other trials and tribulations that come from having a job, realizing that this can be yet another one can come as a surprise.

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  • two women sitting in an office, one holding a takeout salad and showing another woman her phone
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • One employee was taken aback by this when their offer to buy a pair of pre-prepped lunches from a coworker went sour. Many in their office chose to eat lunch from a food delivery service, which they normally didn't use because of the price.

    This time, their colleague had accidentally ordered too many meals from the service, so they said that they would buy them from her. However, they wanted to back out after she expected them to buy the full price of $80 for them. The coworker was not so happy with their reaction, and they were wondering if they had done something wrong.

  • AITA for not accepting to pay full price for my coworker's food delivery meals?

    My coworkers are big into food delivery services and it's a common conversation in our office. I've tried a trial order before and it wasn't for me - the meals were really expensive compared to regular meal prepping. Two days ago, one of my coworkers was complaining she messed up her delivery window and now has too many meals, so a few of them would have
    via LiveLaughBlobfish
  • to be thrown away. I told her if she was going to throw them away I could buy them off her. Today she brought two chicken meals in and told me they would need to be cooked today because they were expiring soon. I asked her how much she wanted for them and she said $80 - full price. I was awkwardly quiet about it
    via LiveLaughBlobfish
  • scissors chopping scallions into Styrofoam takeout containers with food inside
    via Danil Aksenov
  • for a minute and said I will take one of them. She didnt really say anything back but I could tell she was annoyed. She works in the connecting office so I havent had a chance to talk about it with her, but charging full price after having a conversion about them expiring soon was really unexpected. Should I pay the
    via LiveLaughBlobfish
  • price though? We never agreed on a price ahead of time and there seems to have been a lot of miscommunication, so if I'm in the wrong I would like to know before talking to her.
    via LiveLaughBlobfish
  • Cheezburger Image 10558318080
    via Mika Wegelius

  • Commenters felt that the coworker was being unreasonable.

    Maleficent_Web_6034 It was insane to even offering to pay for them. She had expiring meals that she wasn't going to eat so if she wanted to do good she could give them away, or she could throw them out. Expecting any amount of money is absurd, and expecting full price would have me never speaking to her outside of what is required for work again. She just isn't the type of acquaintance I would want in my life. NTA
    via Maleficent_Web_6034
  • 2dogslife That was how much I paid for a single WEEK of food delivery meals. That's a ridiculous ask. I think agreeing to pay half was beyond generous.
    via 2dogslife
  • Love_Fashioned NAH. Not really anyway. Co-worker should have been upfront about the pricing. Or been kind enough to give you a discounted rate - just because the food would be wasted otherwise. Not really sure why she couldn't have froze the meal/ingredients and saved it for herself another time but whatever.
    via Love_Fashioned
  • It's completely okay for you to say, "Whoa - $80? Sorry - I didn't realize how much they are. I'm not interested in spending that much, especially since they aren't really the freshest." I get why it's awkward. She's completely cool with charging full price and she has that right. I guess you could add on a bit of your own responsibility, "I'm sorry you went to the trouble of bringing them here. I guess I should have asked how much they were."
    via Love_Fashioned
  • witsendgame 80 DOLLARS FOR TWO MEALS??! That's more than most restaurants for a dinner. That's wild. do not pay that.
    via witsendgame
  • Embarrassed-Row-2025 NTA, if she was to charge you like that, she should have provided a list for you to choose from. Honestly, I would have said "I thought you were giving them away so you didn't have to toss them" (and she does have options like preparing them and freezing etc) She wants awkward... give her awkward
    via Embarrassed-Row-2025
  • Several-Finish-3216 NTA. She is though for charging full price for food that is about to expire.
    via Several-Finish-3216
  • beckdawg19 NTA. You never agreed to a price ahead of time, which is a blunder on both ends, but she takes the ah le cake for expecting full price for nearly-expired meals.
    via beckdawg19
  • Cryp7ld NTA i think. It's strange to expect full price for something that's about to go bad. Even grocery stores will discount things that are about to expire.
    via Cryp7ld
  • DCpurpleTart33 Definitely NTA. I hand mine out all the time on "Buy Nothing" on Facebook when they need to be eaten and I'm traveling. I'm happy to have them not go to waste and never would I ask for payment! So ridiculous! I would've laughed and said thanks but no thanks.
    via DCpurpleTart33
  • Some-Astronaut-6907 I could tell she was annoyed People, we need to develop a thicker skin. So what if she was annoyed?
    via Some-Astronaut-6907
  • Total_Awareness_5013 I can't imagine that they really cost that much to begin with. She was ready to toss them? Not a good deal for you at all!!
    via Total_Awareness_5013
  • K_A_irony What Fing meal service delivery costs $40/meal. That is insane. Most of them work out to $10 to $14/meal including delivery.
    via K_A_irony
  • Interesting-Set2429 NTA Don't buy any of it. Expecting full price for something she was going to throw away is crazy. You should be upset at her. She's trying to take advantage of you.
    via Interesting-Set2429
  • lurking_mz I guarantee if you look up what food service she used, that's the majority of her weekly order, jot one single meal. H_LTO THE NO, You're NTA. They successfully scammed you and are mad you didn't fall for the full scam.
    via lurking_mz
  • Jerseygirl2468 NTA she was going to throw them away and they were going to go bad in a day. Charging you full price was too much. You also could have said "oh wow, that's more than I was expecting, no thanks."
    via Jerseygirl2468

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coworkers colleague aita meal work lunch workplace expensive food reddit thread Reddit money takeout
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