Went to a Super Bowl party & I will never be the same.

[Anonymous]

OMG OP, hilarious!!

So, what's it like at work today? How did your other coworkers react last night? Did any of them know? Were there any eyebrow raises exchanged last night? I would have tried making my eyes big and shaking my head slightly at a coworker to signal sanity. Has anyone said anything today? Any shrugging, helpless I dunno gestures, anything?

Here's hoping your next outing will be more rational. A book club, maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now this is the kid you take to a late dinner at Ruth’s Chris on NYE!

OMG dying here.

[Anonymous]

Wait did anyone acknowledge this wasn’t a real baby?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now this is the kid you take to a late dinner at Ruth’s Chris on NYE!

Also, I have a cousin who paints those dolls. She “introduces them to the world” on FB and then sells them for thousands. They look incredibly real and are 1000000% terrifying.

I would watch my strange addiction and think it was made for TV, and to find there is an economy where people make money from the mentally unwell behaviors is just so 2020s.

It is sad if this is healing from trauma, but where is the mental health provider? Certainly, the healing does not involve expecting everyone else to ignore that the baby is fake - right?!?!

[Anonymous]

WTF did I just read, Op!!!!

[Anonymous]

Troll alert. But you have a way with words, OP.

[Anonymous]

I do not regret clicking on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did everyone go along with it? Did anyone call it a doll?

We gave each other looks.

It has been discussed heavily in a group chat since leaving the party. Well, there is one guy there in our department who is kind of aloof and didn't think it was weird. He says it's not creepy unless she takes it out in public. He views it as a hobby. He said people find his hobby weird if they aren't "into" it. He does some kind of painting on little figurines that are part of a game. It's even more nerdy sounding than my diamond painting but I don't remember what he called it.

We have agreed to keep it to ourselves in our department, so let's hope that sticks. I think it will because so far none who weren't at the party have mentioned it.

I don't want to shame her if it is trauma based. I have done more researching these lifelike dolls today than I've done work, tbh. It's a crazy community and I'm fascinated yet creeped out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, hilarious!!

So, what's it like at work today? How did your other coworkers react last night? Did any of them know? Were there any eyebrow raises exchanged last night? I would have tried making my eyes big and shaking my head slightly at a coworker to signal sanity. Has anyone said anything today? Any shrugging, helpless I dunno gestures, anything?

Here's hoping your next outing will be more rational. A book club, maybe?

Prior to all of this, I signed up for a kickball league. It starts in April and honestly, it can't get worse than this, right?

All of this being social nonsense started after my therapist told me it would be good for my pandemic-induced anxiety. Apparently, if you're a homebody and answer certain questions negatively, it's viewed as "being scared of the world" and something that needs rectifying. I don't see her again for another appointment until March and it's going to be a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did everyone go along with it? Did anyone call it a doll?

We gave each other looks.

It has been discussed heavily in a group chat since leaving the party. Well, there is one guy there in our department who is kind of aloof and didn't think it was weird. He says it's not creepy unless she takes it out in public. He views it as a hobby. He said people find his hobby weird if they aren't "into" it. He does some kind of painting on little figurines that are part of a game. It's even more nerdy sounding than my diamond painting but I don't remember what he called it.

We have agreed to keep it to ourselves in our department, so let's hope that sticks. I think it will because so far none who weren't at the party have mentioned it.

I don't want to shame her if it is trauma based. I have done more researching these lifelike dolls today than I've done work, tbh. It's a crazy community and I'm fascinated yet creeped out.

There is a lot to unpack here. I am not going to address the psychology of the woman with the doll for a baby at all.

Regarding what has occurred and what you now know, I think you need to be very, very careful. I would back out of the group chat and I would not discuss this with any of your coworkers any more. If it comes up, be completely circumspect but leave the area and refuse to discuss. This entire situation has the potential to get out of control quickly. If necessary, I would call your employer's EAP program for advice about how to interact with your colleague with the doll for a baby, and how to respond to your other colleagues who want to discuss the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, hilarious!!

So, what's it like at work today? How did your other coworkers react last night? Did any of them know? Were there any eyebrow raises exchanged last night? I would have tried making my eyes big and shaking my head slightly at a coworker to signal sanity. Has anyone said anything today? Any shrugging, helpless I dunno gestures, anything?

Here's hoping your next outing will be more rational. A book club, maybe?

Prior to all of this, I signed up for a kickball league. It starts in April and honestly, it can't get worse than this, right?

All of this being social nonsense started after my therapist told me it would be good for my pandemic-induced anxiety. Apparently, if you're a homebody and answer certain questions negatively, it's viewed as "being scared of the world" and something that needs rectifying. I don't see her again for another appointment until March and it's going to be a good one.

Yes, definitely bring it up then!!! DP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In today’s society, OP, you are supposed to react to this situation by being:

- sensitive, understanding, and supportive.

We are normalizing mental illness and destroying resilience.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP.

Some questions I saw:
-Our department is made up of 6 people. Coworker has been with us since mid-November. She's a fun person & I've been out after work to have drinks with her and others in our dept. NO ONE KNEW about her son. We work 3 days in office/2 days at home. I'm telling you, the photo of her son on her desk looks legit like a real baby.

-Only 4 of us came to the party from our department. There was 8 people total the whole time and two neighbors of hers stopped by during halftime to see the show. Her husband was one of the people there. They don't seem weird if that makes sense. They seem like perfectly normal people but the way some people think of themselves as a Dog Mom, she's a Doll Mom? The husband held the baby but overall, it seems like it's more of her thing.

-Also, wtf else was I supposed to say when she took us on a house tour and showed us the freaking nursery?! The nursery was a lovely shade of pale blue-gray.

Like, I was just thrust into this weird ass situation and trying to figure out wtf was going on. I once went to NYC while in college and allowed myself to be pushed into a sketchy van on Canal street and driven around by Asian strangers with visible guns under their coats to buy knockoff designer bags and yet THIS was the most worried I'd been for my life.

I don't think this stems from trauma but who knows. I'm not touching that or asking about it. A coworker there did try to hint at it, I think, when they asked if Eli was their only child. She said that he was the only kid they wanted. I looked up these dolls and lifestyle on Instagram and it's not just people with trauma who like these dolls.

I told my sister about this experience last night and she laughed until she was crying and gasping for air because it is just like me to make a resolution to be more social and then put myself into such an odd social experience. I'm a homebody. The pandemic made me even worse. I'm not even saying my hobbies are better than hers, either! I'm really not making fun of her, I swear. When I get home from work, I toss on some trashy TV and spend my evenings doing jigsaw puzzles or diamond painting. Diamond painting...because I find the sounds of squishing the stones down very soothing & because I have no real artistic skill to really paint. I'm not some cool person.

OP, I really need to hear more about your experiences with the van full of Yakuza.

+1000! But also a little racist to point out “Asians.” Would she have said “a bunch of white guys”? Nevertheless your readership demands more on this!

Asian here. I think it's a legit description for the story.

But it's not Yakuza, they are Japanese. These are Chinese mafia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, hilarious!!

So, what's it like at work today? How did your other coworkers react last night? Did any of them know? Were there any eyebrow raises exchanged last night? I would have tried making my eyes big and shaking my head slightly at a coworker to signal sanity. Has anyone said anything today? Any shrugging, helpless I dunno gestures, anything?

Here's hoping your next outing will be more rational. A book club, maybe?

Prior to all of this, I signed up for a kickball league. It starts in April and honestly, it can't get worse than this, right?

All of this being social nonsense started after my therapist told me it would be good for my pandemic-induced anxiety. Apparently, if you're a homebody and answer certain questions negatively, it's viewed as "being scared of the world" and something that needs rectifying. I don't see her again for another appointment until March and it's going to be a good one.

Please, I am begging, begging that you remember to come back and update us after this appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP.

Some questions I saw:
-Our department is made up of 6 people. Coworker has been with us since mid-November. She's a fun person & I've been out after work to have drinks with her and others in our dept. NO ONE KNEW about her son. We work 3 days in office/2 days at home. I'm telling you, the photo of her son on her desk looks legit like a real baby.

-Only 4 of us came to the party from our department. There was 8 people total the whole time and two neighbors of hers stopped by during halftime to see the show. Her husband was one of the people there. They don't seem weird if that makes sense. They seem like perfectly normal people but the way some people think of themselves as a Dog Mom, she's a Doll Mom? The husband held the baby but overall, it seems like it's more of her thing.

-Also, wtf else was I supposed to say when she took us on a house tour and showed us the freaking nursery?! The nursery was a lovely shade of pale blue-gray.

Like, I was just thrust into this weird ass situation and trying to figure out wtf was going on. I once went to NYC while in college and allowed myself to be pushed into a sketchy van on Canal street and driven around by Asian strangers with visible guns under their coats to buy knockoff designer bags and yet THIS was the most worried I'd been for my life.

I don't think this stems from trauma but who knows. I'm not touching that or asking about it. A coworker there did try to hint at it, I think, when they asked if Eli was their only child. She said that he was the only kid they wanted. I looked up these dolls and lifestyle on Instagram and it's not just people with trauma who like these dolls.

I told my sister about this experience last night and she laughed until she was crying and gasping for air because it is just like me to make a resolution to be more social and then put myself into such an odd social experience. I'm a homebody. The pandemic made me even worse. I'm not even saying my hobbies are better than hers, either! I'm really not making fun of her, I swear. When I get home from work, I toss on some trashy TV and spend my evenings doing jigsaw puzzles or diamond painting. Diamond painting...because I find the sounds of squishing the stones down very soothing & because I have no real artistic skill to really paint. I'm not some cool person.

OP, I really need to hear more about your experiences with the van full of Yakuza.

+1000! But also a little racist to point out “Asians.” Would she have said “a bunch of white guys”? Nevertheless your readership demands more on this!

There are no "white guys" selling on Canal street. It's in Chinatown.

They also are likely not Yakuza, given that Yakuza are Japanese.