Supervisor is gossiping about me at work because I choose not to eat lunch with her
My supervisor at my office job often invites two of my other colleagues to have lunch with her, so she has someone to talk to after her good friend left. My supervisor once shared an office space with her good friend, but now she’s alone. She’s been at this job for 30+ years and is much older than me.
My colleagues do oblige her and eat with her, but I always have to decline her few invitations. For one, because she asks me if I want to eat lunch with her, and I say, ‘No, I’m good,’ or ‘I’m not hungry right now,’ or ‘I’m using my lunch break for other stuff.’
She basically gives me the option to eat with her and doesn’t make it mandatory, so I decline until it’s made mandatory. I prefer to eat alone because I hate eating on someone else’s schedule, and I like my alone time with my food. That’s it.
But apparently, my colleague told me that my supervisor feels some type of way and said she’s going to continue asking me until I say yes.
What boundary can I set so that my supervisor knows my answer is no indefinitely unless it’s mandatory?
Netizens’ comments
- I would just say that you take care of personal business during your lunch break and can’t sacrifice that time due to personal/family obligations but you appreciate the offer and will keep it in mind if you ever get some time.
- I appreciate the offer, however I prefer to separate business and personal time. Lunch is my personal time.
- Anyone who has been at a job for 30+ years knows some introverts just like to eat alone at work. If a supervisor that old is taking it personally, that’s a petty ego trip.
Speaking as someone who’s been in the work force for 25 years myself, it’s not like people wanting to take lunch alone to recharge batteries is uncommon.