Re: Contempt in the Workplace

[Tracy Boyington <tboyi -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG>]

> Tracy wrote, regarding levity and socializing in the workplace:
> "Familiarity only breeds contempt if you're contemptible to begin with."
>
> That may be true. But as a generalization it seems a little harsh to me. It
> all depends on who you work with, what you do, and where. There are plenty
> of companies where much more chatting and goofing off are done than
> working. (snip)  I think Buck's original comment referred to the places
> where the balance tips toward the unproductive (or counterproductive)
> end of the scale.

Buck's original comment was:

>that familiarity (in the bar after work) breeds contempt;

so I assumed he meant after work in the bar, not goofing around in
the office. Unless, of course, Buck is a bartender...

Still... call me a radical, call me a shiftless gen-X whiner (though
I'm not really gen-x), but I don't think occasionally being silly in
the office is a bad thing. I think it's a great thing, and I'd find
it hard to work in an office where it was frowned upon. It's
important to get the work done, but it's also important to let off
steam occasionally before you go postal.

Tracy
who's going to be *working* until at least midnight tonight

==========================================================
Tracy Boyington   tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Vocational & Technical Education
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/home.htm