Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pet Peeve of the Day: Nosy Coworkers

I have a coworker we call Planters because, well, she’s a bit nutty. Whenever she comes over to talk to me — which isn’t often, fortunately — she tends to sit on my desk. Right on top of my papers and file folders. Conversations between the two of us usually consist of me giving her a blank stare while she rambles nonsensically.

Yesterday, she stopped me in the hall and said, “I heard you had surgery. What for?”

Again the blank stare, as I tried to figure out how to respond to such an inappropriate question. Fortunately, she gave me an out when she looked down at my foot. “Was it your toe? Or something else?”

I considered just saying yes, it was my toe, since many of my coworkers already know my big toenail was ripped off in a rock-climbing competition. But I couldn’t imagine what sort of surgery would be required for a missing toenail, so I simply said “Something else,” in a firm enough manner that (I hoped) would indicate the discussion was closed.

“Are you okay?”

At this I softened a bit and tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was just being concerned and not nosy. But how can some people have so little tact? I don’t mind if someone told her I had surgery, but my health is not something I wish to discuss with someone I barely know. You’d think that sort of thing would be common sense.

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