Is my colleague being greedy...

[maddiemookins16mum]

Sit on a bank of four desks at work, over the last week or so we’ve started having Christmassy treats, chocolates, mince pies etc and put them in the middle area of the four desks. Colleague (we’ll call her Sam) is pretty much eating 80% of it. Yesterday we got a box of naice posh mince pies, 6 of them. By lunchtime, I’d had one, my other colleague had one and Sam had three. I got sent a box of chocolates from a supplier, who Sam doesn’t need to deal with etc, I put them in the middle, opened them at 4pm and had one, Sam had two. Other colleague left at 4.30pm and I went to a meeting. By 5.15 the top layer of 12 chocolates had gone, all eaten by Sam. Would i be unreasonable to put them in my drawer this morning! Of course I don’t mind her sharing, we all do, but she’s pretty much devouring the lot.

[AlwaysSomethingThere]

Is she fat? Come on we're all thinking it

[Petalflowers]

I think if they are on a communal table, then they are for everyone, and you can take as many as you want. Maybe she is going a little ott with what she is taking, though.

If 5hey are chocolates, it’s very easy ‘just to have one’ as you walk past, without realising how much you have eaten.

[NameChangeOhNameChange1]

Those defending Sam, if your child ate all the food without consideration for his/her peers getting a look in I'm assuming you'd say something?

It's basic manners.

[puppymouse]

I think I have a tendency to be Sam when we have treats at work. Just put them away for a bit.

[StormcloakNord]

@ReanimatedSGB

We have one of those exact people in our office.

We don't snack often in the office and on special occasions someone brings in a small treat. There's only 7 of us so always enough for one little thing per person.

She always refuses and says something about it not being vegan/being unhealthy/blah blah blah and sits looking a weird mixture of smug and miserable when everyone else is having a treat.

Hilarious and infuriating at the same time

[maddiemookins16mum]

Some interesting comments. She is a very large lady.
I could of course have kept them squirreled away in my draw, but didn’t feel the need to do that. As for keeping ‘tabs’ on who ate what, I wasn’t doing that either tbf.
We rarely have ‘treats’, or even eat more than the odd biscuit at our desks anyway (not allowed to ever eat lunch at desks either, we have a very decent lunch break room). She’s never contributed anything, but that could be because it’s my first Christmas there and it’s still early days.

[Bluewidow]

I don’t tend to eat from the sweet table. However, my concentration is poor as I have An ops role so constantly flicking between issues. In order to keep me at my desk I find myself eating. If treats were near me I may very well demolish!

[Kemer2018]

Sounds like how i used to be at work.
I've not got much willpower so at work i eat nothing now. If i start i can't stop.
Put the treats away in a drawer. Better for everyone.

[MrsFrisbyMouse]

Collect everything you are given and donate it to a homeless shelter or food bank?

[BettyCrook]

OP whats your plan now? hide, ignore, say something...?

[frothy]

I dislike people who bring out food to work because I lack self control hide your stuff away if you don't want us scoffing it especially as it's right in our faces

[Johnnyfinland]

I am a scoffer as mentioned, but even when I bring in treats myself I end up eating the majority because it seems everyone else is too polite to take more than one square of chocolate! I brought a load of chocolate back from holiday and left it on the desk and told everyone to help themselves - when 3/4 of it is still there at the end of the day I’m not just going to let it go to waste. The point is I do contribute snacks as well, and wouldn’t be bothered if someone else scoffed the lot. It’s not for me to police who’s eating what. As I said earlier, if you’re miffed at not getting your share, eat more before the scoffers descend!

[SherlockHolmes]

I think you need to say something along the lines of, "Oh we've got more chocs/mince pies today. We're going to be piling on the pounds if we keep eating them. Let's all have one and I'll put them away until tomorrow, to keep us all under control."

[IdblowJonSnow]

Luglio is right, she's doing you a favour! Tuck some away if it bothers you

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

Why is MN so food-obsessed? I don't get it. If you don't like what's happening with your treats the dole them out and lock the rest safely away in your desk.

I loathe people who parade food around as 'help yourself' and then clock exactly how much people are taking. Keep it to yourself. I never touched anybody's food in the office, I don't like to be eating all day long and I don't want greasy crumbs and smudges on paperwork either.

Put it on display/for others to take - and shut up about it - or control the servings and shut up about it.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

Oh of course 'she's a very large lady', how else would the thread keep going?

[MutedUser]

^^^agree with this

[springydaff]

Sounds like she's a ]], poor thing.

[springydaff]

food addict

[Dinosforall]

I think you need to say something along the lines of, "Oh we've got more chocs/mince pies today. We're going to be piling on the pounds if we keep eating them. Let's all have one and I'll put them away until tomorrow, to keep us all under control."

I would be incredulous if a colleague took it upon themselves to police another adult's diet in this way

[mouthkisses]

If they are put out for everyone to have, then I think YABU to be miffed when people eat them. If you want a fair share then keep them for yourself and offer as you see fit.

Policing a grown woman's eating, be she fat or thin, is bloody awful. She might struggle with eating moderately, she might be a 'greedy shit' aka struggling to eat moderately. Or she could just be eating mindlessly because they are in front of her. Let this lot of food get eaten up and then stop. It's not putting anyone in a good light.

[amusedbush]

I brought a load of chocolate back from holiday and left it on the desk and told everyone to help themselves - when 3/4 of it is still there at the end of the day I’m not just going to let it go to waste.

The end of the DAY? Why on earth would chocolate go to waste if it wasn’t eaten in one day? Just leave it out and people would eat it over the week, surely?

[Sugarformyhoney]

Gets on my nerves how greedy people can be. A colleague brought in cakes and a separate fee that we’re gluten free for me and another colleague with coeliacs. By the time we got our break the fat fuckers at work had eaten all of the cakes plus then started on the (clearly labelled) gf ones 😡

[ReanimatedSGB]

Part of it seems to be people having very different views about 'sharing' food. If you've got a bag of sweets, which are yours, and you choose to share them by offering them round, then you probably expect people to take one sweet each when they are offered and might be a bit surprised if someone grabs a whole handful. That's 'sharing' when you're in control of what is shared.
Having a table-ful 'for sharing' is different.
If you've got a table which is full of snacks brought in by different people to be 'shared' then some people will eat more and some people will eat less. Because some people will not like what's on offer, or be unable to eat it because they have some sort of dietary issue (whether that's an allergy/intolerance, a preference, or a tendency to food-related virtue signalling "I never eat between meals, I'm SLIM and that's what makes me better than other people"), it's a bit silly and pointless and officious to try to impose portion control.

[ZenNudist]

Lesson learned. Dont bring in treats. Save your Christmas treats for the evening. I like unhealthy food in December but if i eat crap in the day i dont then feel like eating more later.

And ribbing her about it might help. "Woah slow down on the chocolates sam, we would all like some." "Leave some for the rest of us!" "Sam is doing sterling work saving us from eating all the pies" "oh god im going to have to break my no snacks before 11am rule if i want to get a look in" "youve got to move fast round here if you want to share in the treats" "theres 2 types of people round here, the quick and the hungry". "Are you at the chocs again sam? I think you hit your chocolate quota for today". "Right im off to a meeting do i need to stockpile chocs or will there be some left when i get back?" Or slightly more subtle: "blimey, they went quickly. Thats a shame i'd been looking forward to another couple / another one."

Youve got to watch your delivery, good natured with a smile, no trace of being genuinely pissed off.