More about the office...

Last Friday when I came home, I was fuming about the situation at work. I actually had it in my mind that I would send an e-mail to everyone in the room that day and to the principal that read something such as,

“I apologize if I offended anyone with my conversation about the “World Population Crisis” today. It was never my intention to create a hostile work environment or make anyone feel uncomfortable during that five-minute conversation with Park.

In the future, might I suggest - since we are all adults here - that if a person takes offence by a workplace conversation, he or she would please just say so on the spot. Then, if the situation isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, go ahead and involve the higher-ups. In return, can we all agree to be courteous to the offended party?

It would also be good to remember that we have an open office space. Although we should be conscientious in that our conversations can be heard by all, also keep in mind that unless we have a “no talking” or a “whisper only” policy, voices will be heard in your work space.”

Of course after I vented to my husband about this and told him about my idea, he pretty much put the kibosh on that [Note: my theory about the affect of non-reading on the sense of perception is on hold too; G-man basically helped me see that I still need to think about that one some more]. Anyway, G said, “BSP, I don’t think that would be a good idea. You know what happened, don’t you? An employee complained, and so the principal felt that she had to do something about it to cover her ass. She is done with it; you should be too. Let it go.”

You know what, he is right. It’s nice to have a voice of reason around (and that will come in handy once or twice with five women in the house). MJ, my principal, didn’t care what was said, and she didn’t care who said it. She made an appearance, did the token reprimand, and I’m sure she’s forgotten all about it. It’s not like I’m bogging down the entire school phone system with my “full” voice-mail box (lol – just had to get that in). [Note: glad they didn’t give me voice mail so I don’t have to deal with that]

So yes, last Friday was irritating. I wish I had been able to read Pete’s “Working in a Bathroom Stall” post before I went into work that day – it would have given me some perspective. But now I have some suggestions to make to improve our work space environment that include a powerful sound system and a CD of a vacuum cleaner running…