Chit Chat and its Dangers

Posted by Melissa Dylan Sep 15, 2006

The other day I accidentally threatened to beat up my co-worker.

Stay with me.

I have a tendency to blurt things out, particularly when I think I'm being funny (and often when the only person laughing is me). This is something I'm working on, as it occasionally offends people. But other times, as I've discovered, it's a gift.

For instance: I was about to take the stairs when I saw a colleague hopping on the elevator. And out of nowhere I told her that not only was I going to beat her to the bottom, but I was going to kick her ass once I got there.

Have I mentioned I've been at this job all of, say, two months? And that until that point said colleague and I had done little more than exchange vague pleasantries about cats and the weather?

I don't know what got into me, except to explain that I think that threatening to beat people up is very funny. Apparently, I missed my calling as a twelve-year-old boy.

Worst case scenario I would shortly be signing my termination papers and named as the sole defendant in a harassment lawsuit. But much to my relief, she played along. Though we're not BFF or anything like that, our working relationship has taken on a much friendlier and fun feel--less like robots and more like humans.

My point, and I do have one, is that this is the story I relayed to my friend who worried that work life was making him lame. Read my article on small talk at work. And cease being lame, immediately.

P.S. No, I'm not saying you should threaten to beat up your co-workers, nor am I implying that doing so makes me less lame. In many opinions, it probably makes me more so. I'm aware.