Worker's unusual lunch spot backfires after uncomfortable confrontation: 'Was I being disrespectful?'

Fox News

7 hours ago

The internet erupted recently when a Reddit user revealed an unusual lunch location, sparking strong reactions.
The user began by noting that he or she was an introvert working in a "highly social customer service job," the person said in a thread on the popular "Am I the A--hole" subreddit.
"I often need to take my lunch hour alone to recharge," the commenter added. "Next door to my workplace is a big, well-kept cemetery."
"On nice days, I take my lunch to one of those benches, eat my sandwich and read a book," the Redditor wrote. "Sometimes I walk along the paths and read the gravestones."
But recently, the lunch spot led to an uncomfortable social situation that left the person shaken up, as relayed in the post.
"Last week, I had just finished my lunch and was packing things away when another visitor approached me and we began chatting," the user said. "They said they were here to visit their parents and asked whom I had lost."
The person went on, "I had to admit that none of my loved ones were buried here, but that I was coming here because it was peaceful and I needed a place to take a break from my work."
The grieving person responded with disgust — and accused the lunch eater of "treating the cemetery like a personal park," which took the Reddit poster aback.
"I apologized and left immediately and haven't been back since," the user admitted. "But I was surprised to hear this, as I had not thought I was being disrespectful."
Addressing a query to the community's 24 million users, the person asked, "Was I being disrespectful?"
In response, hundreds of Redditors overwhelmingly supported the person's decision.
"Graveyards are places of peace and reflection not only for those who have lost someone, but for everyone," the top comment read.
"Originally, cemeteries were used like this," another user claimed. "It's why when you go to older ones, [there are] lots of open spaces and benches."
Another chimed in, "In the Victorian period, it was quite common to have picnics in cemeteries … It's only after regular parks became more common that the practice died down."
A different user quipped, "Why do they think there are benches in these places? Certainly not for the 'residents.'"
"Why do they think there are benches in these places? Certainly not for the 'residents.'"
The thread also attracted an apparent admirer of the occult — who claimed it was "a very witchy thing to do."
"I myself am drawn to witchy symbolism and I respect it a lot," this user wrote. "A certain type of witch finds peace with the ancestors and [is] drawn to cemeteries. They have a connection. This isn't my path, but it is very respected."
A few users found the choice of lunch spot to be in poor taste and accused the original poster of being disrespectful.
"I can't imagine going to visit my nine-year-old nephew's grave and [finding] someone popping open a f---ing soda," said one person bluntly.
"Truly macabre. Have people lost all sense of propriety and respect?" another wrote.
Another commenter said, "You're using people's loved ones' final resting place for lunch as a private park … Go out and find a park that's actually a park."
Florida-based etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore weighed in on the drama, telling Fox News Digital there's "nothing wrong with taking a break and having lunch on a bench in a cemetery."
"A lot of people find cemeteries quiet and peaceful and a wonderful place to decompress and reflect."
"A lot of people find cemeteries quiet and peaceful and a wonderful place to decompress and reflect," she said.
One commenter wrote that, while the person did not do anything wrong, it's important to value the feelings of the mourner also visiting the cemetery.
"I don't think you're being disrespectful … I do think, though, that commenters here aren't thinking about the mindset of someone who is visiting [a] loved one's grave," the response read.
"Grief is top of mind for them."