I worked for many years in an office environment and would have enjoyed the experience if it was not for a number of over bearing and annoying colleagues. These people seemed to spend the whole day bitching and gossiping about other people which can make life at work very stressful and uncomfortable.
I started working for an insurance company where I would have to carry out basic office duties. I had previously worked for a small composite door company for a few weeks. I was slightly apprehensive as it was all new to me of course but what I found when I started to work their came as quite a shock. The way these people acted reminded me of when I was a student at school - I had left school to get away from this type of imature behaviour and here we are again.
As an example, I will tell you a story which I am now able to laugh about, but which at the time was quite hard to handle. I was out one evening in a local pub with some good friends of mine. We were all enjoying having a few beers when in walked a girl that worked for the same company that I did. I had a name for this person; in fact she was part of a bigger group, that I referred to as “the bitches”!
I went over and started talking to her. I was feeling rather happy and confident, possibly due to the amount of alcohol that I had consumed. She had a friend with her who I have to say was very attractive and I also started to make small talk with her. I started to get on really well with this friend and thought that I had pulled etc.
After buying them both a drink I went to the toilet. Whilst I was in the toilets my friends warned this friend of my colleague not to get too close to me because I was gay (which I am not). They were just trying to ruin it for me, nice hey!
I came back to the group and both of these women had left to go somewhere else. I was most frustrated but was unaware of what had been said.
I could not believe the way people started to act around me the next morning when I arrived in the office - it was very weird and it was like I was an alien. At one stage I actually thought that somebody may have put a sticker on my back as a joke. I later found out from a good friend that this colleague had told everyone that I was gay.
I have no problem with people who are gay and this incident showed me what it must be like for them at times.
I went up and told this woman exactly what I thought of her and warned her never to spread any rumours about me again, as it would be the last rumour she would ever spread, if she did etc.
To say that the next few days were rather hard would be an understatement - many people just ignored me. I did not try to convince them that I was straight as it should not be an issue in the first place.
After this I went to work with the sole intention of doing my job, I do not need these type of people in my life.
If you work with people like I have described above, I feel sorry for you. Try hard to not let them ruin your day at work as if they do, then they will have won.
I am now a lot happier as I am self-employed. I run stop stuttering therapy courses and I also offer web promotion specialist advice. I will however never forget these nasty women and the way that they made me feel.
