Called “greedy” at work

Sounds like people policing what women eat as usual. The food was there and you can decide how much you eat OP.

Sorry just to be clear I mean the person thinking you're greedy must have food issues, not you!

I hate shared lunches because I find them unhygienic and they are usually incredibly wasteful. I bet you half the people who would have taken food home ended up throwing it in the bin (or their family members did). But these colleagues sound like the worst kind of passive aggressive idiots. I would just keep them at arms length or develop a thick skin.
Don't feel bad for eating more - we didn't have much money and I was expected to finish everything I was given as a child and it's a hard mindset to shift. Although I'm slim I have given myself painful indigestion simply because if food is put in front of or near me I can't let it go to waste. I know it's not because I'm "greedy" and because I'm slim I've never had any negative comments about it. But I have had unwanted comments about my body, my appetite and my diet from female colleagues throughout my life.
People should get over judging others and focus on improving themselves.

This is such an odd view.

she didn't need to consult with colleagues - the food was there for them. It wasn't there for the families of a select few. Fair enough for people (all the people who contributed not just these with families) to take home what was left - but that's what's left at finishing time.

people have such weird views on food. She went up multiple times as there was food left over. After everyone had eaten .

mn can be such a weird place to talk about food - competitive under eating etc

op - they were rude not you, and potentially are toeing the bullying line. Next time I'd just not bring anything and not eat anything from the buffet either

4 times up to a work buffet that others have all contributed to ?? Yes you are a greedy glutton for nourishment, clearly !
Do you scoff food all day at work normally ?

I'd assume the person has very serious food issues tbh and feel a bit sorry for them.

The people calling you greedy are probably the ones truly being greedy though, as they only wanted OP to stop taking more food as they were planning on taking it home for their kids. So they desperately shamed OP to stop eating more.

I wouldn't have said anything, but I'd have silently thought you were very greedy.

Glad it stopped! See now THAT is greedy.

OP was not greedy, she didn’t deprive anyone else, she only went up again when it was clear there was still an excess of food, and what’s more there was plenty of food that should be binned by the end of the day like sandwiches. Sounds like she ate little and often, which is better for you than overloading a plate and eating it all in one go.

What did you contribute to the buffet OP?

It is absolutely disgusting to take sandwiches and sausages rolls that have been sat out for hours home for children. In my office any buffet lunch is left out a couple of hours for staff and then binned.

Cakes are different as they can usually last a bit longer.

I'm not going to call the OP out on whether she was greedy or not. But what I would say is that offices are awful places for gluttony and over eating (or at least my office was). There's always someone's birthday, team meetings, sweet treat Fridays, co worker that constantly brings in home made goods and other occasions that mean there is a constant conveyor belt of food on offer. You have to have the strongest will power in the world to resist.

It does sound like a lot of food to consume. Four trips and each time having multiple sandwiches and multiple sweet treats.

That’s 6 slices of bread (minimum) which is a lot to eat in one day.

Would I say something if I saw someone doing this, no. Would I want to re think my diet and food choices if it was me, yes.

About 18 years ago I used to work in an office and we would occasionally do a bring a dish day. Most people would bring something (or go out at lunch and buy something) and we would have a nice time. The food was left out. There was a guy on another floor called Allen. Allen would descend like a food ghoul (despite contributing nothing), and lick his lips and wiggle his fingers like a cartoon at the dishes. On his third visit in just a few hours a few of us did say that only people that bought dishes could eat. He then patted his stomach and claimed he was on a diet. The man would also come into our floors kitchen fridge and eat other peoples food.

There is no nice way to say this OP. You are the office Allen!

jokes aside, yes you were being greedy. Let’s break this down - first lunch maybe what 3/4 sandwiches. Second plate ‘a few’ so whats that, 3-4? Last plate a couple. Thats 10 sandwiches at least! No you didn’t scoff it as soon as it came out, but it sounds like you made a sizeable dent. How much did you contribute in comparison to how much you consumed?

adjective

1. having an excessive desire or appetite for food. "he's scoffed the lot, the greedy pig"

I'm surprised people said it to her face but not surprised people thought it and think it on here too. OP's eating a lot is the same as excessive to many people. Humans do think, say and imply negative things, no matter how much language evolves to make nice.

But four plates worth of food… what else would you call it?

It certainly sounds as if you had your fair share of the buffet and some!
I’d have been thinking you must be greedy very hungry but I’m not ok with the thought that people with children should be the ones to take the leftovers. They should have been primarily left for the person going on mat leave/members of staff.

You did nothing wrong. And even if they thought you were being cheeky or greedy they should have had better manners and kept that opinion to themselves!!

I regularly arrange catering at work for meetings etc and the leftovers I end up bringing out of the meeting rooms and putting on the cabinet at the end of the bank of desks I sit on. So it gets eaten by anyone passing who fancies some.

some people will take one sarnie with a little grin as though they are being cheeky, others will take lots and come back multiple times. I just don’t care - I’d rather it didn’t go to waste! So long as you didn’t pick up the whole lot and take it to your car before anyone else got a look in then I don’t see you did anything wrong.

id be embarrassed too.
if it’s a one off and you think the matter is closed then I’d move on. If they bring it up again I’d breezily (outwardly - inwardly I’d be dying inside) say something like “oh well it wasn’t clear that only parents could take leftovers after the initial lunch rush and I don’t think a few sandwiches and a flapjack across the whole afternoon is greedy anyway! I can’t believe it’s coming up again to be honest!”

Maybe OP only took a small amount each time rather than stacking her plate high and not eating the majority of it? If the food is there and it’s eaten by the staff, who cares how many times someone might get something?

That isn’t greedy - that is glutinous.

😁

Seriously???? Food that has been out for most of the day……..and people think it’s ok for children!!! FFS dump it!

God people are weird. It was just sitting there, its there to be eaten, you ate it! people have different appetites! What difference did it make to their lives except they couldn't take it home for their kids?

No. I think it was them. They are the greedy ones if anybody should be called greedy. The buffet isn't for folk to take home leftovers.

I think the colleagues comments were inappropriate, nasty and personal - especially in a work context.

Greedy would have been if there were 5 colleagues and 5 pieces of cake and you had immediately taken 2, for example.

The buffet was there for colleagues to celebrate the other colleagues’ maternity. Not to provide food for colleagues’ children. What’s next - you can’t take a new pen from the stationery cupboard because that’s been earmarked for their children’s pencil-cases?!

Im not sure how best to raise it but I would be looking to flag this in some way. Especially if you are a colleague in a bigger body then I think this is crossing the line into judgement on personal appearance/weight (as comments on food/eating often are).

As it is, their entitlement & judgement has turned an event that was presumably organised to encourage staff camaraderie into one that led a colleague to feel shamed and ostracised for participating.

Sounds greedy to me. But also, people with kids taking priority is just annoying.

It’s rude to feed your face four times.