Teen Worker Says Her Older Coworker Questioned Every Break — Then Asked If She Could Lift a Box

A 19-year-old college student says she tried to be friendly with seasonal coworkers at her part-time job, but one older coworker’s constant attention started making her so uncomfortable that she wanted to avoid eye contact just to keep him from starting another conversation.

She explained in a Reddit post that she works part-time at a packing facility while going to school full time. She has been at the job for three years, so even though she is young, she is not new to the work.

Because of the holidays, the facility had brought in a lot of seasonal workers. Most of them were friendly and easy to talk to. One of them, a 28-year-old man, seemed overly talkative and nice from the beginning.

At first, she did not think much of it.

She likes to talk, so when he asked her about school or random things, she answered. The conversations were not immediately inappropriate. He was not saying anything crude. He was not making direct comments about her body or asking her out.

But over time, she started noticing a pattern that made her uneasy.

Every time she was about to go on break or lunch, he would ask, “Going on break?” or “Going on lunch?” She acknowledged that people in the facility work in close proximity, so coworkers can see when someone is grabbing their things and leaving. Still, the fact that he kept commenting on her movements started to feel strange.

Then he began questioning small things she was doing at work.

If she was looking for supplies or looked even slightly confused, he would ask what she was looking for or whether she needed help. On paper, that might sound polite. In practice, it started to feel like he was monitoring her and jumping into everything she did.

The part that finally pushed her over the edge happened when she was clearing shipped boxes from a conveyor belt.

There was one large box in the line, roughly 24 by 18 by 12 inches. As she approached it to pick it up, he leaned on his desk, tapped the box, and asked, “You got that?”

The question irritated her instantly.

She looked him straight in the eye, picked up the box easily, and told him, “I work here, I can pick up heavy boxes.”

That moment seemed to capture why his attention bothered her so much. She had worked there for years. Lifting boxes was part of the job. Yet he singled her out and acted like she might need help with something routine.

She said he does not talk to anyone else the way he talks to her. He does not ask other people if they are going on break. He does not constantly ask if they need help finding supplies. He does not hover over their work in the same way.

It feels like it is only her.

And she is one of the youngest workers there, possibly the youngest.

That age difference added another layer to her discomfort. A 28-year-old seasonal coworker paying special attention to a 19-year-old college student at work may not automatically mean something bad, but it can change how the attention feels. She was not just annoyed by a chatty coworker. She felt singled out by someone older who seemed too aware of her movements.

In the comments, she later acknowledged that calling it “creepy” might have been a little much. She said it was more that his forwardness made her uncomfortable. She also said she was definitely not interested and would shut it down quickly if he ever directly said anything romantic.

But the fact that she softened the label did not erase the discomfort. She still did not want to engage in more conversations with him, and she was looking for ways to make that clear without creating workplace drama.

The situation sat in a gray area. He had not made a blatant inappropriate comment. He had not threatened her. But he was paying attention to her in a way that made going to work feel more tense, and she could not stop noticing that he was not doing it to everyone.

That was the real problem.

At work, a person should not have to manage someone else’s interest all day while also trying to do their job. If she wanted to take lunch, look for supplies, or lift a box, she should have been able to do that without him narrating it.

Commenters were split, but many agreed she was allowed to feel uncomfortable even if the coworker had not done anything extreme.

Some commenters said he probably liked her and was trying, clumsily, to be helpful or start conversations. They thought “creepy” might be too strong if all he had done was ask questions and offer help.

Others disagreed and said the pattern mattered. They pointed out that constantly noticing when she goes to lunch, questioning what she is doing, and implying she cannot lift a box can feel condescending and uncomfortable, especially from an older male coworker.

A few people said the age gap made the attention feel worse. A 28-year-old focusing heavily on a 19-year-old at work may not be illegal or automatically harassment, but it is understandable that she would be guarded.

Several commenters suggested she become less chatty and more neutral with him. Keep answers short, stay polite but distant, and avoid encouraging extra conversation.

The strongest practical advice was not to escalate straight to HR based on what had happened so far, but to trust her discomfort and set firmer distance. If he kept pushing after she made it clear she was not interested in personal interaction, then the situation would become much harder to excuse.