YES, I KNOW!

On my way home from work, a rear pocket seam on my pants starts coming undone. It’s very fixable, and the pants are still functional; my pocket just now has a hole in it. Since I don’t have any other clean work pants and I don’t have time to fix them that night, I decide to wear them the next day and just hope no one notices until I can mend it the following night.

Unfortunately, I’m the youngest in my office by about twenty years, which my coworkers seem to take as an open invitation to “parent” me, no matter how or how many times I ask them to stop. As we’re all waiting to clock in…

Coworker: “Oh, did you know your pocket has a hole in it?”

Me: “Hmm? Oh, yeah, I noticed last night, but I didn’t have time to fix it. I’ll do it tonight.”

Coworker: “I just wasn’t sure you were aware.”

Me: “I know it’s there. I’ll fix it tonight.”

Coworker: “You know, in case you try to put anything in your pocket and it falls out.”

Me: “Yes, I know.”

Coworker: “I just thought you should know.”

Me: “Yes, I know.“

Coworker: “It could be a problem if you lose something.”

Me: “Yes. I know.“

Coworker: “I wanted to make sure you were aware.”

Me: “YES. I KNOW.”

Coworker: “You could drop something important.”

Me: “YES, I KNOW!”

By this point, half the room is staring at us, and she finally seems to realize I’m annoyed.

Coworker: “Well, I was just trying to be helpful!”

By that point, I had thankfully reached the front of the queue, so I badged in and hurried off. There can be a fine line between helpful and annoying, but she wasn’t toeing that line; she stampeded headfirst over it and just kept going.