Strange occurrence in the company breakroom.

[TwilightLurker]

Or, maybe not so strange - you folks tell me . Alright so, I was working late one night last week, and I took my fifteen minute break in the breakroom. Nobody else was there, not surprisingly since most go outside to smoke, so I was sitting at one of the tables drinking a bottled water. I notice a guy come to the door, look in through the glass, and then come in. I may have walked past this guy before, but I wasn't able to remember then and I still can't remember now.

 

Anyhow, he greets me by name and starts talking to me, and it immediately becomes clear that the only reason he came into the room was to talk to me, which wouldn't have struck me as being odd if I actually had exchanged a single word with this guy before. He starts talking about how I'm such a terrific worker, how I bust my you-know-what for the company and how I deserve to be recognized because the others in my department apparently, in his eyes, do very little compared to me. He goes on about how hard I work, how he's watched me give it my all and how nobody upfront appreciates my effort, and so on, and so on, and so on. This guy isn't like a member of management or anything. He isn't even a supervisor. He's just another worker that I couldn't recall seeing before and doesn't even work in the same department as I do or during the same time of day as I typically do (he's an overnight worker, and I only sometimes work till midnight).

 

So he gives me praise for like three minutes, and then he says he wants to buy me something. In my mind, things got even weirder at that point. I politely declined because I honestly didn't want anything. I wasn't thirsty any longer and I wasn't hungry, but he just kept smiling and insisting, from energy drinks to candy bars. I couldn't get him to take no for an answer, so I just gave up and allowed him to go get me a soft drink. Obviously I appreciated all the nice things he had to say about me and I also appreciated his generosity, but I felt bad letting him spend money on something that I didn't need or want at the time, but "no thanks" simply wasn't something he was going to accept.

 

I also think he may have been trying to get me to consider putting in a request to transfer to his department, because he was saying how he was telling his supervisor about me and how great it would be to have a hard worker like myself working overnight and he was asking me about where I wanted to go in the company. I'm thinking he probably just wants someone working with him that won't slack off and will make his job easier, but I don't know.

 

If he is interested in me, I could certainly see myself becoming interested in him. Cute, slim, around my age and just all around nice. Too bad I won't have a chance to possibly run into him next week during my late night shift since he told me he's going to be on vacation next week. Maybe the following week, if I find myself with a late night shift, I'll bump into him and see what transpires.

 

Just curious though, am I right to think that encounter was a bit unusual? I mean, I don't have a lot of years under the belt out in the workplace, but it seems something like this might be kind of uncommon. A supervisor, I can see, but a guy that I hardly see? I'm a poor judge of people, but something about the whole encounter seemed... off.

[Ariel85]

It's totally strange. But, I wouldn't jump to assume he was hitting on you (though who offers to buy someone candy??). Is it possible his bosses put him up to it to feel you out to see if you'd be interested in moving to their dept?

[TwilightLurker]

I'm definitely not jumping to any conclusions and I'm certainly not building any fantasies or hopes around what happened. I've let that happen in the past and it's always resulted in me being disappointed and depressed. I won't let that happen to me again.

 

I don't know if his supervisor put him up to it. I would say that's a possibility, but wouldn't the supervisor want to personally handle something like that? Why send an employee to do that? Seems kind of deceptive. This guy just seemed real sincere in his words and it sounded like they were his words, and not someone else's.

[Ariel85]

Who knows. It's definitely creepy though. How old is he? The whole insisting on buying you candy is rather disturbing.

[TwilightLurker]

Hard to say for sure. He appears to be around my age, but I'm not exactly good when it comes to judging a person's age. I'm fairly confident though that he's in his twenties, like I am. I didn't find the situation creepy, just odd.

[mdog]

That is strange. I kind of agree with you why would his supervisor set him up to do that? I have a boss who is always asking me if i want food, candy or a drink or whatever when we are at work. He offered to buy dinner for me one time. I have taken dinner once and i felt bad about it. But then again that was a boss who did that..I think that is weird a boss does it..could not imagine a random person (or a stranger if you may) trying to buy me something. I would feel a lil awkward lol! Good luck!

[TwilightLurker]

Sounds like you've got a great boss! Does he just offer stuff to you, or others as well?

 

Yes, I felt a bit awkward, but honestly, it kind of made my night.

[mdog]

He offers to everyone..but i dont know its a little weird but cool at the same time

[chocolatemilk]

Are you sure he isn't someone you've communicated with but not in-person eg. email or similar? It sounds like he works closely with your department, closely enough to comment on their work ethic, so you must have some tangible connection.

 

I've had similar encouters and usually you do know the person, just not in a way you expect.

[chitown9]

I think that he is attracted to you and wants you to work with him. That is my gut feeling about this.

[TwilightLurker]

Are you sure he isn't someone you've communicated with but not in-person eg. email or similar? It sounds like he works closely with your department, closely enough to comment on their work ethic, so you must have some tangible connection.

 

I've had similar encouters and usually you do know the person, just not in a way you expect.

 

Absolutely positive. In my line of work, there's zero need to communicate like through e-mail. He most definitely doesn't work closely with the department I work in. There is no tangible connection of any sort. I can state that with one-hundred percent certainty. There's no way I know this guy or he knows me. That's what made the encounter so very strange and unexpected.

 

I think that he is attracted to you and wants you to work with him. That is my gut feeling about this.

 

I hope your right! But again, not getting my hopes up, not over something like this.