Snowflake’s point of view
Is there a young person in your life who frequently has you scratching your head? Fear not, as, every month, best’s Millie Gooch, 27, is here to tell us what the 20-plus generation is really thinking…
‘When my mum reminisces about her days working in the City, her stories are frequently peppered with anecdotes about lewd bosses, who would put their hand on her shoulder as she typed in order to look down her top, or wolfwhistle her as she innocently walked through the management team. She was frequently “volunteered” by her male colleagues to go up the ladder to put the Christmas decorations up, and says she couldn’t begin to count the number of topless calendars that were stuck up on the walls. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then. Do I think we’ve gone too far? Do I think HR rules and procedures – that mean men can no longer even compliment women in the workplace, or tell them they “look nice today” – are ridiculous? People may disagree with me, but no – not really ( hey, I’m a millennial – what did you expect?!). For us, the office environment today should always be a safe space. As a woman, you can rarely walk down the street, get on a tube or take your jacket
off without feeling like you have someone sizing you up and deciding whether you’re attractive or not. I’m not trying to say I fall in to either category, but work is the one place I want to feel like I am being judged on my achievements as an employee!
Maybe it’s just me, but if a woman tells me she likes my dress (and maybe asks where I bought it), I think she genuinely likes the dress. If a man says it – and, of course, this totally depends on the guy – it can feel more like a comment on me in it, and that makes for a slightly awkward journey in the lift!
But for those thinking all this is utterly depressing, it’s really not. There are just other places to flirt or even find love. For some that might be online; for others it could be the traditional guy meets girl in a bar or club.
Personally, I won’t miss the thought of the kind of office parties where secretaries sneaked off with their bosses to meeting rooms – and, yes, people photocopied parts of their anatomy that, quite frankly, should never be exposed near electrical equipment.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no killjoy and there’s nothing wrong with an innocent flirt, I just believe that the romance and the compliments should take place outside the workplace. The office romance may be dead, but romance will never die!
And let’s be honest – if two people are meant to meet and fall for each other, it will happen, wherever they happen to be at the time…’