Woman has the perfect response to a coworker who kept downgrading her cultural food
Each culture has diversity in its cuisines and varieties when it comes to food. Their ingredients, methods of preparation, and even consumption are all diverse. So, it is widely expected of people to accept diversity or at least respect it. Similarly, a woman, u/CherryChanelle69 on Reddit, revealed that when her coworker repeatedly downgraded her culture and cuisine, she decided to stand up for herself and serve an apt response. The coworker named Kate was constantly insulting her cultural cooking and culinary practices and she refused to put up with it.
The employee mentioned that her office is a comparatively smaller space. The team has a potluck and since she loves to cook, she brings homemade meals for her coworkers. “For context, I’m Thai and a lot of what I make has strong flavors—garlic, fermented fish sauce, chili, shrimp paste, that kind of thing,” she explained. While most of her colleagues loved and appreciated the food, Kate always had something to complain about. “She’s made little comments before, like, ‘Wow, that’s pungent’ or ‘Your food is so intense,’” the woman recalled. Sharing another instance where her food was insulted, she mentioned, “Once, when I brought in ‘som tam (green papaya salad),’ she wrinkled her nose and said, 'Ugh, why does it smell like that?’ Like, it smells like lime and chili?'”
Things did not stop there. Kate overstepped and crossed her limits by asking the woman, “If I grew up eating bugs.” She constantly stereotyped her and even remarked that she “saw a documentary about Thai people eating crickets and how it must be ‘normal’ for me.” Despite explaining the culture and how some insects may be eaten in a well-thought-out manner, Kate remained negligent and disrespectful. “I made khao soi for the potluck, a Northern Thai curry noodle soup. Everyone seemed to love it, except Kate, who took one bite, made a face and said, ‘Oh, this is... strong,’” the woman noted.
She observed that though it seemed like a joke, Kate did not touch her bowl. “I overheard her telling someone it was ‘too much spice and too many smells at once,’” the woman said. Having had enough of her disrespect, she decided to take action. “When it was my turn to cook again, I made my usual dish plus a plain grilled chicken breast with some steamed veggies and a little cup of ranch dressing. No seasoning, no ‘strong smells,’ etc,” the post read. The woman also left a note that read, "For Kate, since I know she prefers something simple!"
People acknowledged the woman’s decision to adhere to the rude colleague's preferences while keeping the disrespect at bay. u/No-Shock2055 said, "If someone is going to keep insulting your food, then you do not need to keep preparing it for them.” u/PrettyGoblin11 added, “Kate needs a reality check. I can feel the micro-aggressions through the phone. I think you handled it perfectly.” u/chesus_amulgabar remarked, “If she can dish out the comments, but can’t handle a (very polite) response, that’s on her. Play stupid games, win plain chicken breast.”
