Warning: Stop making jokes about people's names at work potlucks

I watched my coworker Dave bomb three times in one hour at the office potluck last Friday. First he called Maria "Mariana" as a joke, then he asked a guy named Richard if he likes being called Dick. The third time he said someone named Amber had the same name as a traffic light. By the end of the hour nobody was talking to him and the room got super awkward. I counted 8 people physically turn away from him after the traffic light joke. Has anyone else seen a well meaning joke ruin a whole lunch break like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

caleb_stone28d ago

Did Dave think he was a standup comedian or something? lol. Honestly the best thing you can do is just pull him aside real quick and tell him to knock it off because it's making people uncomfortable. I've seen this exact thing happen at a potluck before and it turned into a whole HR thing because someone complained the next day. People don't forget when you mess with their name like that, it's basically poking a sore spot for a laugh. If he keeps doing it, just redirect the conversation or straight up say "okay that's not funny" loud enough for people to hear. Nobody wins when the lunch break turns into a cringe fest.

bennett.patricia28d agoTop Commenter

People are way too quick to call HR over every little thing these days. Is it really that serious? If somebody butchers your name once or twice, just correct them and move on. Life's too short to turn a potluck into a federal case. Remember when we all just rolled our eyes and got over it? Now it's like everybody's walking around with a hair trigger, waiting for a reason to be offended. I mean, Dave might just be socially awkward, not a villain.