No Thank You

When my wife became pregnant, I decided not to announce it to the entire office. It's nobodys business. I'm not a big fan of sharing personal information with my co-workers. I've only told a handful of people I work with-those who needed to know (my boss) and few who I have a personal relationship with. I like to keep a low profile. I believe in controlling your personal information. It's up to me to decide what and who I tell when I feel like telling them. It goes both ways-I don't want to know everybody elses personal business either. What am I supposed to do with that info?

Really, I hardly know most of my co-workers. Some of them I never talk to other than the occasional "hi" as I walk past them in the hall. I'm around them 40 hours a week about 50 weeks a year, but that doesn't automatically make them my friends. Just because we work together doesn't mean we have anything in common, have anything to talk about other than work or lead even remotely similar lifestyles. We're strangers forced to be together because of our jobs. There are some co-workers I get to know better than others, but I'm not hanging out with them socially.

I despise the forced socializing with co-workers. The group lunches, the holiday parties, the anniversaries, the happy hours, the baby and wedding showers, etc. Why would I want to spend my free time with strangers? I spend my free time with my family, my friends and myself. Forty hours a week is enough. Don't expect me to get a drink with you after work and talk shop. No thank you. Before I got into management, I declined all forced work social invitations. I've got better things to do with my time. When I became a manager, I felt it was my responsibility to represent the company and set a good example for those who work for me. So I reluctantly accept the forced social invitations. I change the topic of conversation from work to movies or music or sports-something to take my mind off of the fact I'm never going to get those couple of hours of my life back.

So if you don't know anything about me, don't take it personal-I don't tell anyone.