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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Woman at work burst out laughing at me

250 replies

ConfusedNUpset · 27/02/2022 19:48

I do bank shifts for the NHS, therefore I’m not in one place, I move around so don’t really get to know anyone properly as such.
Yesterday I was on shift when the senior came into the clinic to borrow something. She asked how the day was going and I said “not too bad thank you”. That was all I said. Well she started sniggering looked like she was trying to hold it back and then burst out howling with laughter. I didn’t know what to do so I kind of laughed along and just said “what is it?” But she couldn’t talk, she had tears rolling down her face and was literally bent over screaming with laughter. I asked again what was funny and she just waved her hands at me as she couldn’t speak. Anyway I decided to just carry on with my work and she eventually scurried out of the room but I could still hear her laughing in the corridor.

So I was paranoid anyway. This morning another staff member came in for something and asked what I’d done to senior as she was hyperventilating when she got back to the office. I told her she’d just burst out laughing for no reason and she said that was unusual as she’s a miserable sod normally.

Now I’m ultra paranoid. I’m due back there tomorrow but I’m so self conscious now and feel like I can’t say anything as she’s senior (as in two bands higher than me).

Any suggestions as what she might have been laughing at?? Could it be that she remembered something funny and I just happened to be there? DH keeps telling me to forget about it but it’s really playing on my mind.

Name changed as ultra outing!

OP posts:

CambsAlways · 27/02/2022 21:03

She’s bloody bonkers!

LetHimHaveIt · 27/02/2022 21:04

For a start, I don't think OP did mishear the woman.

But ok, let's say she did. For the woman to have found OP's response screamingly funny, it must have been an illogical answer - in which case the woman must've realized OP had misheard/misunderstood. Especially as OP asked her what was funny. So whether the woman is just a bit of a twat who can't control herself, or she can't be bothered to come and explain to an obviously bewildered and embarrassed bank worker, why her response to a misheard question, was so inadvertently fucking hilarious.

Sunsetzs · 27/02/2022 21:06

She should come to explain, but...

bit of a twat who can't control herself,

Have you never laughed and not been able to hold it in/stop? It's the same as crying, sometimes you cannot control it.

Happy36 · 27/02/2022 21:07

She sounds very rude, but it's pretty clear that it was her being weird and not you. Maybe she was laughing at something from earlier/something she remembered. Try to forget it, but I totally understand how it made you feel uncomfortable.

MichellefromEastenders · 27/02/2022 21:09

Do you think she could have been wearing some of those remote controlled love eggs?

sunflowermadness · 27/02/2022 21:11

Ask her Op! Honestly it might have been a misunderstanding

LetHimHaveIt · 27/02/2022 21:12

@Sunsetzs

She should come to explain, but...

bit of a twat who can't control herself,

Have you never laughed and not been able to hold it in/stop? It's the same as crying, sometimes you cannot control it.

I can't remember, as an adult, being bent over screaming and crying with laughter - but I still reckon I could, between paroxysms, make some gesture or a few words towards a baffled and uncomfortable person conveying that it wasn't their fault I was pissing myself with mirth, yes.

LemonJuiceFromConcentrate · 27/02/2022 21:12

@MichellefromEastenders

Do you think she could have been wearing some of those remote controlled love eggs?

SnowFlo · 27/02/2022 21:13

"bit of a twat who can't control herself"

OP said "not too bad" and the image of a naked person covered in marmite throwing wine gums at tourists from the Rialto bridge while shouting "I forgive you!!!!" flashed before her eyes.

TempName01 · 27/02/2022 21:13

Just ask her, say you were dying to know what she was laughing at

Sunsetzs · 27/02/2022 21:14

I can't remember, as an adult, being bent over screaming and crying with laughter

That's a shame.

I agree she could have tried to get across it wasn't OP if it really wasn't.

LemonJuiceFromConcentrate · 27/02/2022 21:14

@Sunsetzs

She should come to explain, but...

bit of a twat who can't control herself,

Have you never laughed and not been able to hold it in/stop? It's the same as crying, sometimes you cannot control it.

Then you make a point of reassuring those around you or if you really, really cannot even manage to gasp out an apology between gales of mirth, you go and apologise afterwards. You don’t just run off and never explain ffs

Sparklesocks · 27/02/2022 21:15

Could she maybe have just been joking with another colleague or something funny happened, and then moments later she was with you and thought about it again and it made her laugh? That has happened to me before.

SnowFlo · 27/02/2022 21:16

"bit of a twat who can't control herself"

grin

OP said "not too bad" and the image of a naked person covered in marmite throwing wine gums at tourists from the Rialto bridge while shouting "I forgive you!!!!" flashed before her eyes.

Meant to quote seen the Bill Bailey clip

Lolabray · 27/02/2022 21:17

Could be something she has seen or something someone has said.

Or she could just be a malice bitch who’s laughing at you to make you feel intimidated. Whatever it is, smile and do your job. :)

TillyTopper · 27/02/2022 21:19

You're reply was absolutely fine - very standard - the sort of thing anyone says. I can only think of 3 things (1) she was laughing at something else entirely (2) she was being nasty but difficult to fake the amount of laughter you describe (3) she's starting to go a bit deranged.

ZenNudist · 27/02/2022 21:19

She's probably having a breakdown

YetAnotherUsernameToday · 27/02/2022 21:19

She sounds like she was hysterical.

She either had an unrelated fit of giggles, but it's still okay to ask why she was laughing like that, or you replied to a different question than was asked.

When I was younger my dad offered my boyfriend a drink and he replied "thanks a lot - you look nice too". It caused us all to laugh hysterically too. She seems a bit out of order for not letting you in on the joke though, that's a power play in my view.

KatyRebecca84 · 27/02/2022 21:19

[quote WorraLiberty]@wtfwasthatmate I'm not sure why you think I might have a problem?

I'm pointing out that these are spontaneous reactions, so therefore I don't see how it can be rude if it's not deliberate?[/quote]
Are you the nurse?
You can prevent yourself bursting into fits of laughter bent over if it’s totally inappropriate… like you can control most bodily functions!

Sunsetzs · 27/02/2022 21:19

you go and apologise afterwards. You don’t just run off and never explain ffs

I said she should have done that at 20.49 already:

If it was anything like that though, she should be able to explain when she's calmed down.

Sunsetzs · 27/02/2022 21:23

You can prevent yourself bursting into fits of laughter bent over if it’s totally inappropriate… like you can control most bodily functions!

No, I can't always do that. Even at a funeral, if something really tickled me, I'd probably have to try and excuse myself, because whatever has made me laugh to that extent will keep playing in my head. I've tried to stop those types of laughs before, it isn't always possible. It can be, but not always.

BananaPlants · 27/02/2022 21:23

Hmm, maybe it was the way you said it? I say that because I am not neurotypical either and sometimes I say things which are completely normal but cause other people to laugh and I am flummoxed as to why.

I ask my DH when it happens as I cause him to cry with laughter on a regular basis ( not in nasty way though, I don’t mind ) and he talks me through why it was funny, if I can’t figure it out. He sometimes says it wasn’t what I said but the way I said it.. maybe in an unusually enthusiastic way or an overly formal and polite way and it just tickles him in the context that I said it.

Maybe something like that in your delivery? (I’m clutching at straws here though, she generally sounds rude and unhinged)

whynotwhatknot · 27/02/2022 21:23

prob just something she was laughing at earlier-ive done it albeit not at work but later on the same day that something made me laugh i was gone and couldnt explain it

TatianaBis · 27/02/2022 21:24

Who knows, she’s sounds loopy.

I have definitely laughed like that. I did so recently when a friend of mine, who has become a happy clappy, earnestly played me a clip of Christian rock. I tried to be really serious and respectful. But after a minute I burst out laughing, so much so that all I could say was ‘Michael Bolton’. She then laughed at my reaction and it snowballed.

LetHimHaveIt · 27/02/2022 21:24

'That's a shame.'

I'm - alright with it.

'I agree she could have tried to get across it wasn't OP if it really wasn't.'

I think she should've explained herself either way! It's bloody rude not to explain whether the OP had misheard something innocuous, or something just tickled her for no reason.

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