RAE'S RANTS
Imagine this.
It is 8:30 on Monday morning.
You are still trying to wake up after 2 cups of joe and 30-minute ride in traffic from _____ (you can fill in the blank). You are at work in body, but your mind is still at home contemplating the Law & Order marathon you watched all day yesterday.
Suddenly, it hits you. You missed a deadline on a project that you were supposed to have finished by Friday at 5pm. You look around the office. People are not yet settled in, and you figure you still have some time to sneak the project on your boss's desk before he even notices.
You head back towards your desk now wide awake from the adrenaline that comes from knowing you might be sentenced to watch Law & Order all day long and on a more regular basis if you don't get this project turned in. So, you get to your desk and you grab the project that is still ¾ of the way done. You figure, the boss is still waking up too and may not really notice.
You are barreling towards his office at break neck speed to turn in the already late project and just as you pass the threshold of the hallway that will lead you to your destination, a somewhat familiar person passes you with almost annoying glee and proclaims, "Good morning, Pumpkin"!
Pumpkin? Sweet Potato? Honey Bun? What is this the King Soopers Bakery Department?
As you make it out of your boss's office in just enough time to catch him rounding the corner back towards his office, you begin to think to yourself, 'Who was that person and why did they just call me a Pumpkin? Is it my face? Is it too round? Are my eyes triangular? Does this shirt make me look too orange?' Finally, you settle on this final question: What in the world would make an intelligent adult call another adult a Pumpkin in their work environment?'
I don't know about you, but I experience this quite frequently in my work place and I am here to say, that I not only dislike terms of endearment in the workplace, but I loathe them. And since I am ranting let me add this, if any of you are guilty of doing this, here is a bit of advice: Stop it! It sounds dumb, it is rude and it is also a bit unnerving. I mean let's be real here, you kind of have to wonder about someone who calls everyone they meet "Sweetie Pie."
Now please don't get me wrong, just like everyone else, I use those terms too when I am speaking to someone with whom I have a personal relationship, but when I am at work, call me crazy, I tend to prefer to be called by my first name, not "Dear" or "Cutie.
The other day I was meeting with a co-worker regarding a project we had been delegated. During the meeting, another employee passed our meeting space and grabbed her face with two hands and said, "Aren't you just a cutie pie?"
I was torn between contemplating why I wasn't called the cutie pie and trying to remember the confidential 800 number for H.R.?
The person I was speaking to seemed to be o.k. with the situation so I decided to just let it go. Maybe because it was a compliment, perhaps because the person who accosted them looked just plain crazy. Either way, it was their battle so I just left it for them to handle.
I did, however, take a mental note of the scene for next month's rant.
Title: People who use terms of endearment
AND put their hands on you in the work place. What could they be thinking?
~Rae
RYAN'S REBUTTAL
Imagine this.
It is 8:30 on Monday morning and a work colleague just told you, "Good Morning, Pumpkin." You kinda know the co-worker that greeted you, but your work-relationship with this person strictly resides within the company walls. You return by saying, "Good Morning" and you go about your business. Done deal, right?
Well, apparently, this act offends some people, specifically the author above. But why? What is it about
terms of endearment that make people cringe and pretend like they've been called something nasty? What is it about "Cutie" or "Dear" in the workplace that makes some people want to sprint a 40-yard dash to Human Resources?
If terms of endearment do not offend you, I commend you on your ability to accept kind words from others. If it does bother you, well, then I should post the Anger Management class schedule at the end of this column and would advise you to enroll in as many classes as you can.
Now, don't get me wrong, some words and terms of endearment should never be used in the workplace. I'm sure I don't need to spell those out for you. However, when someone calls you something innocent, like "Pumpkin", it doesn't always mean they think you are physically a pumpkin, or have triangle eyes, or any of those other ridiculous meanings Rae had stated. It's simply their way of greeting a person in a friendly manner. And if that's so horrible, well, then let's start firing everyone who uses terms of endearment and what you'll end up with are some empty cubicles and offices. Because like it or not, it happens all the time in the workplace, and most of the time, it's completely innocent.
Also, when it comes to the office, I usually have about a "cajillion" ( which is a little more than a
gazillion) other more important things on my mind, other than someone calling me Sweet Potato, Pumpkin Pie, or anything else from the four major food groups.
So, for those who get offended when they are called "Sweetie", "Dear", or any other cutsie-schmutsie name in the workplace, I ask you to forgive and forget about it. It's probably quite harmless because, in the end, I would hate for any of this "nice-talk" to distract you from your Monday morning "I forgot to do my job and now have to cover my butt before the boss gets in" routine.
Until next time.....
~Ryan