What is this woman’s issue with me?

[Anonymous]

I’m a 28 year old female and I have recently started a new job a few weeks ago and I’m in my second week of induction. There is this 50 odd year old woman who sits next to me and her behaviour towards me is making me feel very uncomfortable and giving me bad anxiety. She keeps asking me very odd personal questions about my personal life and my love life. The other day we went round the group telling people what we got up to at the weekend, I said I went to a house party then a club and then she said “did you meet anyone special at the club? Are you actively looking for a relationship right now?”. Then I felt really upset because she made me divulge information about a traumatic past relationship I had and she manipulated the information from me and I regretted ever telling her anything but she was being so pushy and prying for information from me I ended up telling her.

Another thing I’ve noticed is she will constantly be staring at me when she’s sat next to me. We will all be on Teams calls and she won’t be looking at the screen she will just be focusing on me. She glances over at me constantly and looks at my screen to watch what I’m doing instead of focusing on her own work. Today I was sneezing and a man sat next to me offered me allergy tablets and tissues and she said “what was he giving you was he giving you drugs?”. I like to dress presentable too and I come into the office in nice dresses and smart work attire. She will always look me up and down from head to toe and then say stuff like “you always wear so many nice dresses” and then say “I just wear joggers and black jeans to work”.

Today she completely ignored me the whole day spoke to other colleagues and just gave me judgmental looks all day long and then at the end of the day said “you’ve been quiet today is everything ok?”

now she mostly ignores me but when I talk to her or she sees me she starts laughing at me

What should I do about this situation?

[Oliverlogan263]

Oof, that sounds like a really uncomfortable situation you're dealing with there, girl. That older woman at your new job seems to have some serious issues with you, and her behavior is totally not okay.

The constant prying into your personal life and relationships, the awkward staring, the passive-aggressive comments - that's all a major red flag. She's clearly got some kind of problem with you, and she's projecting it onto you in really messed up ways.

It's not right for her to be making you feel that anxious and uncomfortable at work. You should be able to just focus on doing your job without having to deal with this kind of weird, invasive behavior from a coworker.

My advice would be to try talking to your manager or HR about this. Let them know what's been going on and how it's affecting you. They need to step in and put a stop to her inappropriate behavior. You shouldn't have to just put up with it.

And don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, too. If she starts with the rude comments or the staring, call her out on it. Tell her directly that her behavior is unacceptable and it needs to stop. You've got to set some boundaries, girl.

At the end of the day, this is your workplace and you deserve to feel comfortable and respected there. Don't let this woman's issues become your problem. Stay strong, speak up, and don't be afraid to get your bosses involved if she won't back off.

You've got this, sis. Just keep your head high and don't let her get you down. Focus on kicking ass at your job, and don't give her the satisfaction of knowing she's getting to you. You're better than that.

[MissTrix]

She has behavior issues why else would a 50 year old be going for the same job? She made bad choices and still has to work entry level job!

Probably recently divorced and wanting and friend but can't make friends. She probably has a lesbian crush on you and has not had sex in ages!

We have a coworker girl like this we constantly report to HR! Just tell her cause you won't be the first one!