A mother has been labelled "petty" after refusing to buy her colleague a Marks and Spencer meal deal.
Upon hearing that the mum had decided to go for a walk to "stretch her legs" on her lunch break, the colleague asked if she would pick her up a meal deal as she passed by the shop.
However, the mother, who was new to the office and was not particularly fond of her colleague, refused to buy the meal when she realised the nearest shop was Marks and Spencer, where the deal would have cost around €6.
The woman said as a "lone parent and broke", she never had any "real intention" of purchasing the lunch but told her colleague she "didn't feel comfortable" spending that much of her money without checking with her first - as the colleague didn't offer any cash upfront.
Taking to Mumnset's popular forum Am I Being Unreasonable [AIBU] to seek advice, the mum wrote: "In the office the other day, I was going to stretch my legs. A colleague asked me to buy her a chicken ready meal if I went near a shop. I went to Marks and Spencer to buy Percy Pigs. The ready meals were about £5. She didn't offer me money before I went, she's not in my team and I might not see her in person for months. I would probably have ended up paying for her lunch.
"I also don't like her, she's rude and weird and messed with my stuff once because I was using the desk she likes. Final point, I'm vegan and don't want to buy chicken, but I was too chicken (lol) to say that. If I liked her, I would have happily bought a meal but I would have said can I get you a veggie one instead, and I wouldn't have minded if I didn't get paid back.
"I told her the meals were £5 and I didn't feel comfortable spending that much of her money without her agreement. But I never had any real intention of buying one, mostly because there were no actual supermarkets nearby anyway. Context, I'm a manager and she isn't, but I'm a lone parent and broke as s***.
"So, was I a total cow (YABU) [you are being unreasonable] or a diplomatic genius? (YANBU) [you are not being unreasonable]."
The mother's comments were met with various responses as people voiced their views.
One user said: "So did you tell her you'd pick up her lunch and had no intention of doing so? Yabu [you are being unreasonable], you should've just said 'sorry I'm not going in a shop' then she could've made other plans. Why so passive aggressive?"
Another wrote: "Weird. Presumably she knows the price of an M and S ready meal so was happy to pay that? Seems a bit mean not to get one but I guess you could have asked for the money in advance and explained that you're skint."
While a third commented: "I don't blame you, I would have just said I got sidetracked and forgot. Sometimes it's hard getting money back off colleagues you see every day. Don't worry about it its not worth the brain space".
In a follow-up response, the mum added: "I said I was going for a walk. There are some shops nearby but I'd never been in that office before and wasn't sure if there was a sainsbos or whatever. I didn't have zero intention of buying it but when I realised there was only a marks I decided I wouldn't."
In response to this, another Mumsnet user said: "While I get your point, I think you should have said No straight out so that she could arrange to go out herself to buy her lunch."
However, others took the mother's side, saying she handled the situation well.
They said: "I think you handled it perfectly. You also subtly pointed out "you WOULD be paying me back, right?" for next time in case she's going to ask again and then never get round to paying for it!"
Another commented: "By the way Yes, I do think she was unreasonable to even ask! I'd barely ask a good friend without offering money, let alone a manager that I barely know. I think that shows that you would have had trouble getting the money back. Day one she has no lunch and no money, Day two she's so sorry that she forgot, Day three oops forgot again, tomorrow I promise! And on and on.... until you give up."
