Something happened at work last week and I was hoping to get some thoughts from the folks in here on how to handle it, or if it even needs handling, but got sick on Thursday and couldn't post until now.

A new woman was hired two weeks ago. She told her office mate she had lost about 100 lbs over the last 2 years. Her office mate has a weight problem and she speaks to her only when necessary, going to someone in the next cubicle or down the hall to ask a question, which makes no sense. Several of us, all sizes, have slowly started to notice she goes out of her way to avoid anyone who is overweight. I asked her to bring some papers to my office and she avoided looking at me!

We can't all be paranoid, can we? I was told last week that when she took her break, rather than take the only remaining seat in the employee lounge which was next to Tom, a big guy, she walked out and spent 10 minutes in the ladies room.

Her odd behavior doesn't affect me directly, yet, except for that strange incident in my office and she's in a different department so I don't have much to do with her, but she's hurting my friends and I know sooner or later, I'm going to open my big mouth.

I guess I'm more curious than anything what her deal is. Is she afraid of being around fat people? Does she think she'll catch what we have, again? Is she repulsed? Any thoughts are appreciated.