- A woman says a co-worker recently made a comment about her bare legs, and she’s wondering “whether it’s right I’m creeped out or if I’m [overreacting]”
- The woman shared her experience on the U.K.-based community site Mumsnet in an attempt to get input and advice from others about the situation
- Readers were divided over whether or not the man crossed a line or was just being “friendly”
A woman says a man who works at her office made a potentially inappropriate comment — but she’s not actually sure if it crossed a line.
The woman detailed her experience on the U.K.-based community site Mumsnet, a place where women can go to seek advice from other women. In her post, titled “Uncomfortable comment from a work colleague I don’t know,” the woman said she’s hoping to find out “whether it’s right I’m creeped out or if I’m [overreacting].”
The OP (original poster) went on to explain that she works “at the head office for a big national company” where there are “several thousand employees onsite.” She noted that she usually parks in the same spot every morning, and “quite often a man is parked a few spots along who will start at a similar time to me.”
The OP said she recently pulled into her usual spot and noticed that the man was already parked nearby, sitting in his car.
“I got my stuff out and began to walk to the office. I heard him get out of his car about 15/20 seconds after I walked past,” she recalled.
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The woman — who shared that she was wearing a skirt at the time due to the warmer weather — said the man caught up to her as she was entering the building, and then remarked to her, “Got your legs out today then.”
“I smiled/sheepishly laughed and walked on into the office,” she added, before asking her fellow community members: “Is this creepy given I don’t know this person, or is it just me?”
Readers were split over whether or not the comment went too far, with some people saying they thought it was a completely reasonable thing to say — especially given the recent change in weather.
“I think it’s a fairly common run of the mill thing to say really, so no I wouldn’t be bothered. I’ve heard it said a few times before during nice weather,” one person wrote.
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“I wouldn’t be bothered in the slightest by this,” someone else said. “He seems to have just noticed you are dressed appropriately for the weather as it’s a nice day. I would just take this as a friendly, observant comment.”
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However, others disagreed, sharing that they thought the OP was justified in feeling ill at ease.
“[I’m] pretty easy going, but I would be less than impressed with that comment. I’m surprised by some of these responses defending it,” one person said.
Another person added: “The key test of objectivity is would he say it to a man? I suspect not. So no, it isn’t an innocent comment. He is looking at your body and clothes in a sexist way. Whether that’s offensive to you or not is your call.”
Credit: dotdashmeredith.com
