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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:

RosiePosieDozy · 27/02/2022 22:07

Eugh. Honestly, don't worry about it. She sounds weird and rude. Don't give it another thought.

NigellaAwesome · 27/02/2022 22:11

The only things I can think of are:

She asked how the day / clinic was going, rather than you personally.

She was talking to a patient and you misunderstood and thought she was talking to you.

Either way, it was a very unprofessional response.

blameless · 27/02/2022 22:12

@MichellefromEastenders

She had a vibrating love egg in and it was being remote controlled by her secret lover. It's the only rational explanation!

That solves it, she dropped the controller and is making excuses to revisit every part of the site she's been in that day. Meanwhile, just outside the window, a short-sighted man is making his 27th fruitless attempt to open his wife's car with the wireless fob he carelessly picked up.

IsItTooHotInHere · 27/02/2022 22:12

If that woman gets hysterical over a simple reply like "Not too bad, actually", she's a bloody moron. She must have been laughing at something else, but she sounds very immature and stupid.

Kanaloa · 27/02/2022 22:19

If she was literally doubled over screaming I’d presume she had some sort of mental health issue surrounding her ability to behave appropriately and ignore it. If it continued I would report it to management since it’s extremely unprofessional and frankly very odd.

Kanaloa · 27/02/2022 22:20

@patchysmum

maybe she had had the worse day ever, thinking, a child, multiple people dying some think like that and it just ticked her that yours was "not too bad" sometimes people can have extreme reactions to stress

I think if your stress is so extreme that you can be triggered to hysterics by someone else’s day not being too bad then you need to get signed off work, because it’s not a normal or healthy response. A nervous giggle is one thing but if she was actually bent over screaming for minutes on end she either needs help or was doing it on purpose.

Thebestusername1 · 27/02/2022 22:21

Maybe she is used to people giving the same response not too bad etc and its became a running joke with one of her colleagues.... if not i dunno she sound's like a weirdo

Pandai · 27/02/2022 22:28

She probably had something in her head unrelated that made me laugh, and the more you try and hold it in the more you can't help it sometimes. She was either just horrible in which case I bet she would have said to you what she was laughing at if it was you; or more likely she just couldn't stop and felt embarrassed.

Charley50 · 27/02/2022 22:41

I think you HAVE to ask her tomorrow, OP, and tell us her reason.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 27/02/2022 22:44

It's bloody weird and ride not to explain what it was about

I'd try and avoid her

CheekyHobson · 27/02/2022 22:52

@WorraLiberty

But aside from that, if this woman has literally (according to the OP) laughed herself into a state of hyperventilation, I don't think she did that on purpose, do you?

I mean it's very dangerous for a start...

You seem rather invested in defending this woman's unusual behaviour (which despite the OP's obvious confusion at the time, she failed to explain/apologise for) and making not-so-sly digs at the OP insinuating she's making a big deal out of very little. Why is that?

me4real · 27/02/2022 22:53

@WorraLiberty It's still obnoxious to laugh at someone to their face. And think of all the times we might want to do that, but we don't, because we're not arseholes.

Tiddlesthecat · 27/02/2022 22:53

My bet is that she was either having a really bad day herself or thought that perhaps you were and then thought that you were either being deliberately funny by saying 'not too bad thanks' or that she misheard you and thought you said it was bad, thanks. Sometimes the silliest of things can set people off for very little reason. Perhaps it wasn't even you, but something in the room that set her off.

FlouncerSIT · 27/02/2022 22:59

Is the unit known for being an awful place to work, or something? Do they struggle to get staff to work/stay there? Had she personally just had a shift from hell?!

Your answer seems perfectly reasonable so you do have to wonder what she was on about...

Nelliephant1 · 27/02/2022 23:02

The one good thing is that she doesn't seem to have gossiped about it elsewhere if others were asking what had happened. Every cloud!

MichellefromEastenders · 27/02/2022 23:02

I really do think this is it!

Katya213 · 27/02/2022 23:04

@MichellefromEastenders

She had a vibrating love egg in and it was being remote controlled by her secret lover. It's the only rational explanation!

🤣🤣🤣

Blinky21 · 27/02/2022 23:06

She's probably got a neurological disorder, maybe undiagnosed

KerryWeaver · 27/02/2022 23:29

*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 don't think you need to be paranoid. She was clearly batshit.

MakeThingsRight · 27/02/2022 23:33

She'd just had a spliff

AtrociousCircumstance · 27/02/2022 23:34

Hey OP don’t take this on - I too thought she must be under great stress and her reaction was bizarre/incredibly rude/made no sense. It sounds like an intense emotional release of some kind.

If you see her tomorrow you could say “hey are you ok? Your reaction to my mundane comment was a bit shocking to be honest - hope all is well?”

Londoncallingme · 28/02/2022 00:02

definitely go straight away to find her and just say it straight that she made you feel really uncomfortable last week, was she laughing at you and if so, why?
Tell her straight. It matters more that she’s your senior as she should know better than to be so bloody rude.

LostMyLastHatfulOfWords · 28/02/2022 00:07

Not telling you what amused her was a bit twattish!

Don't lose sleep over it. If your answer was funny - you made someone laugh helplessly - you have done something positive without trying. (Comedians work for that sort of response all their lives :) - you are just naturally talented.)

ladygaga14 · 28/02/2022 00:14

I can only guess something funny happened just before she walked in and she'd been trying to hold her laughter in. It was rude of her not to share the joke though. I'd probably ask her next time I saw her.

Ivyonafence · 28/02/2022 00:22

Unbelievably rude behaviour by her.

I think you should tell her, you're upset and confused as to why she was laughing at you yesterday and you would like to know what that was about because now you're wondering if it was something you said or did.

It's cruel to do that and not explain herself. Anyone would be bothered by it. She should have to address her own behaviour here.

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