Friday night I went out with some people from work. One of my friends is leaving the company and moving to Arizona. HeÂ’s been with the company for three years and started off in the other office, about 6 months ago he transferred to our office. HeÂ’s a bit of a social butterfly, unlike shy olÂ’ me, so there where a lot of people there to wish him well.

Many of these people were not from my current unit, so I didnÂ’t know who they where. After a while, I forced myself to stop being such a wall flower and try to talk to some of the people I didnÂ’t know. When I saw a table that had a group that I didnÂ’t know sitting at it, I walked up. Taking a seat, I waited until they finished their conversation to introduce myself. IÂ’m thinking I should have been a little more aggressive to save the following situation from happening.

Worker A: IÂ’m not sure who he is, do you?

Worker B: IÂ’ve never met him; IÂ’m not sure who he is either. Do you know anything about him?

Worker C: Not at all, heÂ’s from the other office.

(At this point IÂ’m getting ready to interrupt, introduce myself and inquire who they where talking about.)

Worker A: All I know is that he got the promotion. I heard he is an asshole.

(Only two people received a promotion at work in the last couple of weeks, and only one of them was male, me.)

Contagion: I donÂ’t know, I always thought I was a pretty nice guy. Hi, IÂ’m (Contagion).

The looks on their faces was classic. I sat and talked with them for a little bit and even bought them a drink. We laughed about the whole thing. There is a chance that one of them may end up reporting to me next week. To me it would be better that they feel comfortable with me, then to be worried about some kind of imagined repercussion for an incident of gossiping outside of the work place. ThatÂ’s just not something I do, nor do I want them thinking that way of me. As far as IÂ’m concerned, what happens outside of work can not be punished at work. In fact that is the corporate policy.

Personally, IÂ’d never risk it. You never know what is going to happen and who is going to try to get you in trouble for an imagined slight after hours at the local bar.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:37 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 429 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Your reputation precedes you.

Posted by: Dr. Phat Tony at March 13, 2006 12:35 PM (fk/lm)

2 That's why I always say I never shit where I eat. Period.

I don't hold grudges, but can't depend on others to feel the same.

You handled that VERY well.

Posted by: Tammi at March 13, 2006 12:39 PM (lfQya)

3 You handled that with class. I bet they were kicking themselves after!

Posted by: oddybobo at March 13, 2006 01:43 PM (6Gm0j)

4 You handled that brilliantly! Oh, but what a moment for them -- I can imagine their faces... Ha!

Posted by: Richmond at March 13, 2006 02:18 PM (e8QFP)

5 They probably meant "asshole" in the nice sort of way, anyhow :-)

Posted by: Harvey at March 13, 2006 02:22 PM (ubhj8)

6 That sounds like a classic kodak moment.

Posted by: e at March 14, 2006 07:02 AM (cCK74)

7 I wish I could have seen their faces.
Great story.

Posted by: jimmyb at March 14, 2006 10:30 AM (kq3i7)

8 I would have died......

REALLY

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at March 14, 2006 01:28 PM (62sjA)

9 nice. very nice.

Posted by: caltechgirl at March 14, 2006 03:57 PM (/vgMZ)

10 LOL. That's what they get. Talkin' 'bout people like that! Shame...

Obviously they never read "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

From lurking here and reading your posts, I'd say you seem like pretty NICE for an asshole

-beej

Posted by: beej at March 15, 2006 07:48 PM (7YknZ)

11 See, I would have said "YES! He is a complete asshole! And he smells...." and kept it escalating.

But I really AM an asshole

Posted by: Graumagus at March 18, 2006 03:46 AM (5u5N6)

12 Perfect way to start the new job. You have dirt on them already! Timing is everything.

You'll do great. Congratulations on your promotion.

Posted by: Sticks at March 21, 2006 04:48 AM (tC2QQ)

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