Colleague eating egg mayo sandwiches - to say something?

[DontGiveUp90]

As above really…my colleague is lovely but insists on eating the most foul smelling egg sandwiches for her lunch. It lingers all afternoon and makes me feel sick.

Would I be unreasonable to say something? We don’t have a break out area where she could eat them as only a small office.

Neutradol gel block. Not perfumed. Works well.
And if you can, open a window.
If she complains about either you can then say it's because her sandwiches stink & you had to do something.

I really wouldn't have a problem with the smell of egg or tuna sandwiches, for me, having to work in an office that reeked of febreeze or air freshener all afternoon would be far worse.

I honestly didn't think egg mayo sandwiches could emit such a foul smelling odour, and I'm vegan.

Yes, they obviously have a smell, but I didn't think it was that offensive.

What if I don't consider an egg sandwich to be smelly (which i dont)?

Yeah this is it really. All food smells, some will be offensive to others. Maybe there should be a blanket no eating in the office rule. I couldn't tell someone what they couldn't eat for their lunch. I'm amazed so many here seem to think that's fine. It's just part of working alongside people that things like that are tolerated.

Possibly just my friends and family then. But not wrong, it's what the whole thread is about. I love eating them at home, but would never take it in a packed lunch to work.

I don’t think that you can expect people not to eat perfectly normal foods and what bothers one person wouldn’t bother another. I hate the smell of orange and banana peel but I never expected anyone not to eat them when I worked in an office. It wouldn’t even occur to me. And as others have said if people avoided every food that could potentially bother someone with the smell, noise or that some may see as unethical or against their beliefs then people could eat pretty much nothing.

My point was that all foodstuffs have a distinctive smell, and the reaction to it is subjective. I know someone who hates cucumber and can sniff it out at a hundred paces (as indeed can I, but it wouldn’t bother me).

OP's colleague might switch to tuna or cheese and onion. Or fermented fish or durian.

"I mean, fine, do it, but know that everyone is calling you 'Stinky Egg Woman' behind your back."

Yea, if your colleagues are, like, 5 years old.

I empathise, having had a colleague who microwaved mackerel.....

Depending on how well you know them, you could ask but heaven knows what they'd have instead - eg tinned sardines 😳

Mmmmmmmmmmm

YABU, OP, it's just an egg sandwich. Nothing wrong with that. She's not gutting and cooking fish over an open fire, she's having a butty. Open a window if it bothers you.

Some very rude people on here. What do you eat OP?

I used to work in a place where a small cupboard had been turned into a makeshift kitchen for the use of people on our floor. We had a worktop, a sink, a fridge and a microwave. The toaster was sadly removed after some fool put a pitta bread into it on the high setting and then wandered off and forgot it, setting off the smoke alarms and causing the entire 7-storey building to be evacuated. The microwave remained, even though there was no ventilation in the ex-cupboard. There were also no common rooms anywhere nearby so any food heated up in the microwave had to be taken back to an office for consumption. One colleague who was very Deep Green and quite a militant vegetarian, if not a vegan, brought in cabbage soup quite often. She heated it up in the ex-cupboard and then carried it back down the corridor, passing through two fire doors, to her own office. The fire doors were very efficient. The smell of that soup lingered between them most of the afternoon. I was so glad when she moved on!

I think anyone eating eggs, tuna or sardines in the workplace should be fired or at least told to stop. It's beyond inconsiderate.

Thankfully, I don't work with selfish people

She might be on a diet? She's probably not aware of the smell but if as soon as she takes it out you run to the window and lean out she's bound to ask you what's up. Then tell her that you're sorry but you can't stand the smell of her sandwich. She'd have to be a total bitch to keep bringing them in then. And if so you retaliate : kebab sandwich with extra garlic sauce.

You think egg sandwiches are bad, I once had a colleague who liked fish soup from a tin. By the time it had been heated in the office kitchen it stunk out both the bottom & top floor. It was horrendous!

'Jesus wept Maureen! I don't know what is in your sandwiches but it smells like it's been dead awhile!' Then lots of heaving and opening a window and pointing a fan in her direction.

Perhaps there’s a reason she eats the same thing everyday. Part and parcel of working in an office in terms of sucking it up, brightside you’ll habituate to it eventually.

Egg mayo sandwiches with lots and lots of delicious egg mayo filling are not a diet food. I imagine it's her favourite. It's certainly a great favourite of mine. I don't work any more though, so don't have to worry about what others think about the smell, which I don't personally notice at all.

Who calls it "smelly egg sandwich"? I don't know anyone who says that.

It's less smelly than fish or ripe soft cheese in a sandwich.

Phew. I have been eating shop bought egg mayo at my desk for the last few weeks and didn't think it smelt. I was wondering if I have been committing a crime in doing this. There are people eating microwave curries which are far more pungent, or so I thought..

About 20 years ago someone asked me to not eat tangerines in the office as they disliked the smell so much. I agreed. I changed jobs soon after that and then would ask subsequent colleagues if it was ok to eat one in the office, if I brought one in. I stopped asking people as the answer was a routine laugh and a yes. If she’s reasonable, it’s no big deal, just tell her.

Heating fish up in the microwave at work is pretty unreasonable.

Egg sandwiches and tuna ones are perfectly normal. I'd ignore you if you said something and think you were a bit precious.

Just reading this has made my stomach churn.

Something about egg mayo just sets me right off. Tuna mayo fine, boiled eggs fine. But egg mayo no.

Id either say something or open the window everytime she cracks out the stinkers.

Some really immature posters on here.

I'm not a lover of other peoples egg sandwich smells, dont think they are bad smelly, just foody smelly in general, but I wouldn't dream of being so childish as to make a colleague feel humiliated over what they eat by dramatically blasting them with a fan or hanging out a window. So glad I work with adults.