Employee complains about how his coworkers spend their money: 'He complained to our bosses about me going to concerts. We got told that we couldn’t brag about any extra expenses.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Apr 29, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Why does he care how his coworkers spend their money?

We've all had an annoying coworker. I think I've been the annoying coworker, but sometimes I just can't help it! Being a coworker is an awkward social situation. You can't be as open and honest with your coworkers as you are with your friends, and yet you spend more time with your coworkers than you ever could with your friends! Sometimes I want to treat my coworkers like my friends, which isn't always the most socially daft thing to do. But maybe that's the Gen Z in me talking! Back in the day, people were friends with their coworkers, and there was nothing weird about it.

It's important to know the right time and place to discuss certain topics with your coworkers. You might not want to be joking about getting fired after everyone in your coworkers' department just got laid off. It's not always wise to joke about politics and religion at work, because you really have no idea what your coworkers actually believe. If everyone in the office is extremely busy, it might be best to hold off on talking about your weekend until the right moment. 

Vacations and concerts are pretty easy to discuss with your coworkers. Nearly everyone loves to travel and listen to live music, so discussing your trip to Vancouver or your experience at a Noah Kahan concert should spark conversation with your coworkers. Well, it should do those things unless your coworker is the guy in this story. 

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  • Business people wearing headset feel unhappy working in office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Employee looks annoyed while listening to his coworkers talking about how they spend their money.

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

  • My coworker complained about how we spent our money to our bosses.

    Every year during the summer, my city does a festival and it has food trucks and vendors. It's right next to our work building, and even my bosses don't expect us to get much work done
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • A crowd of people walking down a street at night
    via Venora Cerimi

    An urban street festival, which makes a lot of noise and distracts employees at nearby businesses.

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

  • during that week because you can't have a festival next to a building where a bunch of girls work and expect them to be productive that day.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • It's become an annual tradition of sneaking out and going to the festival together. I honestly look forward to it every year. Most of us did the right thing and clocked out so we wouldn't get in trouble.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • I tried to only be gone for an hour then get back to work but I wasn't feeling it after eating a bunch of vendor food, I did try to help him and another person who was with us.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • He then spent the rest of the day complaining that it wasn't fair that the woman could sneak out and have fun and "the woman only got away with it because of their _ and it must be nice to get favors because they have
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • I don't know if he forgot that I was a girl or that I was friendly with the girl he was complaining about because it's not like my are small so I spent the entire time looking down at mine being like "Buddy, what do you think these are."
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • A few years ago we had a coworker who genuinely got mad enough to complain to our bosses about how we spent our money.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • I'm pretty sure I ended up clocking out early that day because I was tired of him complaining so much.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • However, He then complained to our bosses about me going to concerts and my other coworker going on vacations because she wrote on the board "Work towards vacations". We got told that we couldn't brag about any extra expenses.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • Woman enjoys beautiful view on famous Duomo cathedral in Florence
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The woman enjoys her vacation, much to the annoyance of her coworker. 

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

  • Because any time someone had something nice, he would complain about it. New headphones, complain, new phone, complain, new video game, complain.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • I only remembered that this even happened because I was making fun of him for how ridiculous he was being about it today because god forbid we spend our money that we work hard for.
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • Vegetable_Road8143 So, if you get a new car, you can't say anything about it? What if someone gets engaged and wants to show off the ring as most BTB's are. Just stop talking about things around him. If you're talking to someone about your weekend, the second he comes to site, stop talking and walk away. Or, asking someone loudly, "Hey Cate. Want to go to lunch today? I want to about my weekend. BTW, my treat!" tell you Good luck with Mr. Woe always me.
    via u/Vegetable_Road8143
  • Bikinigirlout OP That's sort of what I did. I go to a concert multiple times a year and request time off months in advance with my boss, I stopped bringing them up around him. Now, I'm sort of glad he's gone because I go visit my brother who lives in a different state at least once a year and I just know he'd have issues with that and be one of those "must be nice" people. Luckily he no longer works for us so it's not much of an issue. Like I get times are tough but, I'm not sorry about how I sp
    via u/Bikinigirlout
  • the_greek_italian Sounds to me that he's just one of those types who choose to complain and nitpick about others rather than join in on the fun. God forbid that your bosses trust everyone to still get some work done while the festival is going on, let alone even buying headphones.
    via u/the_greek_italian
  • Bikinigirlout OP The thing was HE joined on the fun but then complained the entire time because HE didn't have any money. I almost felt bad enough for him to buy him at least a snack/lunch but after he made that comment, I felt better about not buying him anything.
    via u/Bikinigirlout

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complaining boss jealous employee expenses coworkers concert bragging money vacation
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