Employee who 'hates dogs' shuts down 'dog-friendly' office idea; AITA?
While dogs can be 'man's best friend,' that doesn't mean dogs are 'man's best coworker'...
So, when a frustrated employee decided to vent to the moral compass of the internet otherwise known as Reddit's 'Am I the As*hole' about allowing pets in the workplace, people were there to help deem a verdict.
AITA (Am I the As*hole) for preventing our office from going dog friendly?
My job does an annual benefits review where they evaluated our current benefits and took suggestions for new benefits. This was done in small groups to have an open discussion.
We are an office of about 35 people. We can't really work from home a lot because in person collaboration is needed. I like my job a lot.
I've (M35) always kept it on the down low I hate dogs. If I tell someone I don't like them I usually get a 'whats wrong with you?' from people.
I was in the final group to have a discussion. The topic of a dog friendly office came up. They said this was likely to be implemented based off the feedback so far. They'd test this out with a few Fridays before fully implementing it.
I spoke up against this. I explained my reasoning, Said it would be a terrible idea, and if implemented i'd re-evaluate my employment here.
This is now unlikely to occur and everyone is blaming me. It seemed like this was something a lot wanted. My co-workers and I went to a happy hour and I got the cold shoulder from many of them.
Even received some drunken comments that happy hour. I've even had a few ask me to change my mind, apparently being able to bring the dog in would save them a lot of money from walkers/boarding etc.
I've maintained my stance to my co-workers and have been called selfish and ruining it for others. I just want nothing to do with dogs in our office. AITA?
Here's what the jury of internet strangers had to say about this workplace drama:
MaybeAWalrus said:
NTA. Your company sucks for trying to implement that without conducting an ANONYMOUS survey. And now you have to deal with retaliation.
Having dog in the workplace is a huge disruption. I am a dog lover but I hated having dog in the office.
ABeerAndABook said:
NTA. The dog friendly office sounds distracting, loud, smelly, and like someone with allergies worst nightmare. Management is inept for publicly considering this.
slackerchic said:
NTA. Sorry but dogs don't belong in a work setting. Kids don't belong in a work setting. They're distracting. There are days where I wish that I could just put my daughter in my pocket and bring her to work with me.
But I can't. Because it's work. Not home. The true jerk here is your boss that did not conduct this research anonymously, leading you to be singled out.
TemptingPenguin369 said:
NTA although it's doubtful your vote was the tipping point. I can't believe an office would actually want to arrange a setup with a possibility of over 100 dogs in office every day, but I'll take this at face value.
I love dogs and think this is a very stupid idea in an office, whether from an allergy, phobia, distraction, bite liability, hall-pooping, time-wasting or general annoyance point of view.
My old office let people bring dogs once a year: on Halloween, if they were in costume. That was plenty for me. I work at home now, where my dog doesn't bother anyone else.
anathema_deviced said:
NTA. I'm allergic to dogs, and it is hell every time we have a dog friendly day or an on-site event where dogs are brought in. I shouldn't have to live on allergy medicine to get my work done.