I am lucky and honored to have many great friends and friendly acquaintances. I probably have at least a handful of besties (I've never been one to have only one tight bond - 'cept with my dear hubby). And there are at least 25 people in my life whom I love/admire/respect (check one, two or all) that I have become friends with through work. Most of them are from the home care agency I worked at for 13 years; a scattered few are from random and sundry jobs; the remainder are at the family business I work for now. For me, when it comes to friendships, I see no separation of church and state. Some people do. I think men do.
Is it unprofessional to be tight with the people you work with day in and day out? Of course it is if it interferes with your productivity, objectivity and/or ethics. But as I see it, life is short and work is long. Shouldn't we have joy, laughter and support eight or nine hours each day, 40 plus hours each week?
Yes, yes, I agree: tight bonds can lead to "us against them," chatter behind doors and the occassional bon mot at somebody else's expense. Bad. All bad. But positive workplaces should go a long way to negate those sort of actions, don't you think?
I find that men don't build social relationships at work. Work is work. Home is home. And never the two shall meet. Is this how they're programmed? Is this a macho thing? I'd like to know, however, that the guys in Office Space had a solid friendship in and out of work (hmmm, and we know how that worked out...ultimately for the best! In a sort of unethical, worrisome way).
What do you think about workplace friendshps? Good, bad, indifferent? More commen for women? Rarely for men?
Comments