A coworker told me something that I wish he hadn't. Let's say he admitted to me, in an after-hours phone call, that he likes cheese, and that cheese is something a little inappropriate. Suppose that it's okay for people at my work to like cheese, but that since everyone is lactose intolerant, it's not okay to eat cheese. I had suspected that he liked cheese for some time, but I didn't know for sure and it was easy for me to happily assume that there were no cheese-liking issues in our department.
Once I knew this person liked cheese, I couldn't stop wondering if it was interfering with our work. Did he make that decision because it's the best move for the project, or because he likes cheese? Is he volunteering for that task because he wants to be involved in the project or because he hopes to get some cheese out of it? And so on. It was driving me nuts! I just want to go about my business without having to analyze everyone's motivations before I make my own decisions.
Fortunately, my coworker called again tonight to say that he had an epiphany and he no longer likes cheese. I'm a little skeptical, but it's good if it's true. I'm curious to see how it plays out: will this new feeling persist, and will it have a noticeable impact on his behavior?
It would be nice to know that no cheese is clouding anyone's judgment, including my own.
8 comments:
While I'm having a fun time guessing what "cheese" might be, I'm wondering why it bothers you so much and whether it really affects you directly-?
This is one of the reasons I always tried to stay out of personal stuff at work. I like being friendly with coworkers, but I don't want to know too much or be asked to comment on life choices that might present a potential conflict of interest.
I truly dislike drama, so I tend to stay out of this kind of stuff too. My old lab was pretty much drama-free, so this situation kind of caught be off guard. And I don't offer up much myself, I just listen.
Other than being kind of annoying, it doesn't especially affect me in the short term. Over time, however, it could have a big effect on my progress.
It makes me think of a type of thing that could be viewed as a lifestyle choice, yet could affect the person's work relationships considerably. Hopefully not yours, but I'm probably leaping to a worst-case interpretation of "cheese."
I am so intrigued!
I thought I knew what cheese was, until you said that your coworker decided that they didn't like it anymore. I am so puzzled!
SF, I don't think it's that bad.
I've never been able to come up with an interesting pseud for my research, as other bloggers do, so I'm kind of chuffed that I managed something interesting here. ;)
Hey, so thanks for ruining my life.
I ordered some pasta for dinner last night and it came with soooo much cheese on it. A conversation ensued about "that's a lot of cheese", "well I like cheese", "well that's a lot of cheese even for you" etc. About halfway through I remembered this post and got icked out in case cheese is something really wrong and inappropriate and gross.
NOOOOOOOOO
:)
I got to thinking about it, especially after Cath's comment, and decided that I don't like cheese anymore, either!
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