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Original poster

To ask if my joke to new work colleague would have offended you?

591 replies

Abbeymum · 25/10/2025 07:58

We are quite a small team and had a new staff member join this week. It’s a very friendly and jokey culture so we are always light heartedly ribbing each other.

Anyway - new colleague was eating a salad with two boiled eggs. We were chatting and she says that’s a usual weekday lunch for her. I replied that I bet she has stocked up on the air freshener for when she’s home.

Blank face…sense of humour failure on her part?

OP posts:
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Berlinlover · 28/10/2025 22:40

I would have laughed. I had a stoma reversal a year ago and fart no matter what I eat.

Linzloopy · 28/10/2025 22:36

Usernamenotav · 28/10/2025 20:18

Laughed out loud at this. I just know she does 😂

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Exactly what I was thinking!

pestowithwalnuts · 28/10/2025 22:35

Is the colleague American ?
They are known to have a different sense of humour to us..
That saying..your joke was childish

Linzloopy · 28/10/2025 22:35

sense of humour failure on her part?

No, sense of 'humour' failure on your part.

TeaAndTattoos · 28/10/2025 22:21

She probably didn’t laugh because in order for people to find a joke funny it actually has to be funny and what you said wasn’t at all it was just cringy.

Dammila · 28/10/2025 22:05

ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 16:29

I bet you've....no I better not 🤣

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See that's actually 🤣

CalmTheFuckDownMargaret · 28/10/2025 22:00

I really hate it when people discuss the appearance / smell / nutrition of my lunch while I’m eating it, so I’d imagine your comment was quite embarrassing and really awkward for her to know how to react. You’re a colleague who doesn’t know her well, not a family member.

Usernamenotav · 28/10/2025 20:18

ExitPursuedByABare · 25/10/2025 08:08

You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps.

Do you have one of those signs in your office?

Laughed out loud at this. I just know she does 😂

Usernamenotav · 28/10/2025 20:13

Nah its just not funny in the slightest. I love banter at work but that one is lost on me

GoldPoster · 27/10/2025 18:40

I wouldn’t have got the joke. I see from here that it’s about farts but I’ve never had any issues with eggs.

It’s not even funny when you know the connection. Stop ribbing each other, it’s never as funny as people think.

deepseaargyllfish · 26/10/2025 20:56

It’s not funny, a bit over familiar, but not enough to be all wounded and offended.

ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 20:54

Wontbackdown · 26/10/2025 19:10

Imagineabottleof zoflora bouquet-can't post a pic, I'm not eggaggerating!

What does this mean?

Summerbay23 · 26/10/2025 19:16

It’s really not funny, just makes you seem a bit weird 😬

Wontbackdown · 26/10/2025 19:10

Imagineabottleof zoflora bouquet-can't post a pic, I'm not eggaggerating!

PeloMom · 26/10/2025 19:10

Jokes are meant to be funny. I don’t see anything funny about you said.

Wontbackdown · 26/10/2025 19:09

🙄😎😆

Wontbackdown · 26/10/2025 19:08

used that old Mumsnet staple...

Wontbackdown · 26/10/2025 19:07

I bet she's...

ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 16:29

Falseknock · 26/10/2025 14:03

I couldn't resist showing off my lunch. Yum

I bet you've....no I better not 🤣

Falseknock · 26/10/2025 14:03

I couldn't resist showing off my lunch. Yum

To ask if my joke to new work colleague would have offended you?
ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 10:57

user793847984375948 · 25/10/2025 15:08

Depends who you ask but I believe so. Massive cholesterol for one.

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Nah, fine to eat as part of a balanced diet. Has minimal effect on blood cholesterol

T1Dmama · 26/10/2025 10:55

I guess she might have thought you were referencing the air freshener being needed for when she cooked them… or thought it was a dig because - let’s face it, hard boiled eggs STINK more when eating them than once digested… I find it a very odd thing to eat in a setting like an office…

Some people (as mumsnet proves) don’t have a sense of humour.. I’d have chuckled if that was said to me… It’s not hilarious but I’d have assumed you were trying to lighten the atmosphere/break the ice if I was new.
I’d say leave the jokes aimed at them for a while, let them settle and get used to the fact that everyone in your work place likes a bit of banter.

ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 10:52

RampantIvy · 25/10/2025 19:12

As has been pointed out many, many, many times on this thread, it has nothing to do with not having a sense of humour and everything to do with how childish and unfunny the OP is.

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Not to mention the new colleague feeling uncomfortable if it was in earshot of others

ConnieHeart · 26/10/2025 10:43

Driftingawaynow · 25/10/2025 19:49

This kind of crap office banter is why I work in total isolation

Edited

But not everyone is like OP, thank God. I work with lovely people who are friendly but professional. We like a joke and a laugh. But we also are able to "read the room". I'd miss them if I worked in total isolation

Floundering66 · 26/10/2025 10:31

I like teasing if it’s quick and clever. Toilet humour and innuendos are just too obvious for and like others have said, it’s 12 year old boy humour. If I was new I would have just done an awkward polite laugh and internally rolled my eyes.

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