The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
The one thing I enjoy about my job is that I mostly work by myself. I currently work at a university in an accommodation office, and I caption videos for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I’m one of two captionists, so it’s nice to mostly be on my own, but I do have to report to my boss regularly to let her know what I have accomplished on a weekly basis.
When I’m in a work environment, I don’t like to hear about other people’s personal lives. I’m friendly and always in a happy mood, but I can’t stand to talk about my personal life, especially with my boss, as I feel it is unprofessional, especially since this isn’t a job where I will be staying at for a long time. My boss obviously feels a different way. She is young and just a couple of years older than me, and she can’t seem to decide whether she wants to be friends with her employees or a professional boss. She switches back and forth between these two roles and it is the most irritating thing ever!
I remember one day she asked me to come into her office, and I figured she just wanted to get an idea of where I was at with my work. I was wrong. She told me to close the door and have a seat and started telling me about her weekend. I knew she had recently ended a long term relationship with her now ex-boyfriend, but I wasn’t expecting her to tell me constantly about her recent hook ups. As we were in her office, she told me that she was trying to move on from her ex breaking up with her, and so she had a one night stand with a guy she recently met.
I was shocked, not that my boss had a one night stand just a couple nights prior, but that she thought that it was a great idea to tell me that. I was completely thrown off as I had no idea how to respond. It was completely unprofessional and I never in a million years wanted to have the image of her getting it on with somebody. After she told me all of the details (which was very awkward), she told me to get back to work because I needed to finish my work as soon as possible. Um, excuse me? You just pulled me in your office for fifteen minutes to tell me about your sexual life, and now you are telling me that I better finish my work on time? She is crazy!
It was even crazier as I just pulled myself together and went back to work, and I heard her call someone else in her office. It was a lady who I was friends with in the office, and after she returned to her desk, I went over and asked her what happened with our boss. Not a surprise, she told her about her one night stand as well. What kind of boss does that? She is so self centered and always trying to get attention about every part of her life, like I care! I could care less about my boss’s love life or any part of her life honesty. I am there to work and follow the rules, not be your girlfriend to gossip with! Wow … at the things she has told me since I’ve been there.
