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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Wife kissed her boss after a harvest festival tradition, am I overthinking it?

106 replies

Williemm · Yesterday 13:13

My wife and I are both in our mid 40s and have been married for 17 years. We have three children. My wife is quite senior in her company, and her boss is in his late 40s and also fairly senior. So this isn't a case of her being a junior employee and her boss being some much older man.

Last Friday, she was in France with her boss and a few other junior colleagues because the company has an important business relationship with a French vineyard. They were there during the grape harvest as part of the partnership.......and the vineyard invited them to participate in the traditional vendange rather than just having meetings and dinners.

Apparently there was a proper harvest ceremony as well. The vineyard has someone who leads the ceremony, and the junior visitors were involved in harvesting the first ceremonial basket of grapes. My wife and her boss ended up being the two people paired together for that part.

At the end, the harvest master was talking about the old harvest customs and good luck for the coming vintage. He then smiled and jokingly suggested that, since my wife and her boss had harvested the ceremonial grapes together, perhaps they should seal it with a traditional "harvest kiss" for good luck.

It was clearly said in a playful way rather than as an instruction, and everyone laughed.
My wife said she hesitated because, obviously kissing your boss is quite a strange thing to be asked to do...... But after a moment she decided to go along with it and kissed him on the lips.

There were colleagues and vineyard people around, so it wasn't secretive or anything like that. She told me about it herself afterwards, and as far as I know there is absolutely nothing going on between them. I'm not accusing her of cheating.

But I can't decide how I feel about it. On one hand, I can see that it was a cultural/harvest ceremony and she was caught up in the occasion. On the other hand, she could have declined once she realised what was being suggested, particularly because this was her boss.

Would you find this completely harmless and just part of an unusual work trip, or would you also think it crossed a line,

My wife and her boss are good friends and have known each other for the last 20 years. Also, for context, I'm Brit

OP posts:
ItsAlwaysTwins · Today 09:56

I’m sure it was entirely innocent and spur of the moment.

I’d have proffered a cheek for the kiss though. I’d never kiss anyone other than my husband on the lips, the idea gives me the heebie-jeebies.

PrincessOfPreschool · Today 09:58

I think I missed the bit how the OP knows it was 3-4 seconds of kissing. Was it videoed. That would be quite an awkward kiss for the onlookers too!

Papster · Today 10:02

Williemm · Today 07:16

Yeah, there was an Instagram story and a photo where my wife was tagged. In fact, there were 16 or 17 other photos, and she was very close to him

I think we’d need to see the link for a properly informed decision

OvernightBloats · Today 10:16

MoonLight321 · Today 09:23

Lol, classic gaslighting. How dare you get upset. Spare a thought for your poor DW who kissed another man by her own free will.

I would expect an experienced senior women in a company could very easily sidestep "peer pressure" from junior colleagues and staff at a vineyard.

She will have been in far more difficult and stressful situations than this at work. Easily avoidable. She chose not to avoid it and has upset her DH as a result.

Edited

Nope, not gaslighting! Lol!

If that kiss meant something, the wife wouldn't have told him about it. She couldn't win in this situation because she felt she would be judged for saying no. Pressure to partake in activities in the workplace is real.

She went ahead with the kiss because she was pressured to do so.

BuildingAccess · Today 10:21

So weird if I saw my boss kiss another colleague or being the one caught up in the scenario and someone egging me on to kiss my boss. Weird and no way in both situations. Sorry that the harvest would lose its good luck or go to ruin.

ExtraOnions · Today 10:23

“Long deep kiss” .. who, outside of a Mills & Boon, uses that language ?

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