A friend has just sent me a '40 Things You'd Love to Say out Loud at Work' email.
Fortunately these days I can say anything I like out loud at work and only the cats will hear me (though I must say I'm thinking of setting up a dirty words jar at 20c a shot; good superannuation would be nothing to it). But this list did remind me of my days in academic life and here are my favourites.
Things I Would Have Loved to Say Out Loud at Work:
* I can see your point, but I still think you're full of sh*t.
* How about never? Is never good for you?
* I see you've set aside this special time to publicly humiliate yourself.
* I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.
* You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
* Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
* Do I look like a f*cking 'people person' to you?
3 comments:
I always take it as a warning sign when people say, 'I take your point...'
Oh yes, nasty -- you know that whatever's coming will reveal that they didn't take your point at all, and furthermore they want to kill you for whatever it was that you just said. I also fear 'With respect', which means they are about to trash you.
One old friend of mine tends to preface her openings of difficult conversations with 'You need to understand ...'
I've told her if she ever says that to me then our 40-year friendship is, like, ovah!
What's wrong with "You're not going to like this, but I feel I must say it anyway"?
You still know you're going to have your opinions trashed, but at least they're not pretending otherwise.
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