The first rule of eating lunch at the office? Don’t bring anything too smelly.
But what counts as “too smelly” really depends on who you ask.
One Redditor regularly brought homemade meals to work—simple things like stir fry or pasta. Nothing outrageous by their standards. But a coworker had a different take, complaining that the food smelled “too real” and “too textured,” without offering much clarification.
Next thing they knew, a passive-aggressive air freshener war had quietly begun. Read the full story below and decide whose side you’re on.
The worker received a complaint from their colleague that their office lunch smelled “too real”
Image credits: goffkein (not the actual photo)
Leaving them confused as to what that was even supposed to mean
Image credits: kues1 (not the actual photo)
Image credits: [deleted]
Some readers felt the worker wasn’t in the wrong and speculated about what might be bothering the colleague
Others shared similar stories from their own offices
Still, a few pointed out that the food might genuinely be more pungent than they realized
