I dread going back to office from hell
IT’S FULL OF RUDE CRETINS
I’M dreading going back into the office because my colleagues have such horrible habits.
I hate the guy opposite me who swears like a trooper and the woman who eats smelly food. I feel like I’m surrounded by the cast of Fraggle Rock.
Every day is Halloween with a boss who doesn’t wash and is always in a foul mood and a receptionist who is beyond rude.
Affairs
I’ve been working from home since last March, but now the big cheese has decreed that we’re all expected back at our desks in our cramped, ugly building.
I was already going out of my mind in the months leading up to the pandemic. Now the thought of going back and listening to the HR director moaning about her cheating husband and the head of accounts burping and passing wind makes me feel like jacking it all in.
Drunkenness, office affairs and bonks in the boardroom are all perfectly normal.
My wife says I can’t afford to leave and that I have to stay put because her job is so precarious.
But how can I possibly function and grow as an individual when I’m surrounded by a bunch of uncivilised cretins? Some
desks are covered in rubbish, and I can’t begin to tell you what the communal kitchen looks like.
I don’t pretend to be perfect but at least I shower and attempt to maintain standards.
I’ve grown used to the peace and quiet at home. I don’t want to be a “team player” again when the team I bat for are so utterly appalling. What am I to do?
JANE SAYS: Calm down, because it’s been a long time since you were last in the office and you are understandably anxious. A lot could have changed.
It’s possible that not everyone
will come back and that some new work practices have been introduced.
Go along with an open mind and a positive attitude and see how you get on.
The reality is that working with others is tough. We don’t always get on with everyone around us and have to navigate our way through certain situations. From colleagues with strong personalities to unreasonable bosses, it’s a minefield.
The good news is that you’re in a job and therefore in a position of security and strength. I get it that your
wife is agitated, but you don’t have to stay where you are for ever.
Give yourself a few months, maybe until after Christmas, and then have a look at your options.
That said, you need to be prepared for the fact that there are “characters” everywhere. That’s what being a human being in the workforce is all about.
Are you as tolerant, realistic and forgiving as you could be? Is it possible that colleagues consider you stuffy and judgmental?
Think about it.