Do you socialise with work colleagues outside of work time?

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seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
14,943
4,587
113
#21
Never mix Work and Pleasure... That's an old wise saying that i go by...

Socializing with fellow workers is becoming more and more dangerous especially in these MeToo witch hunt days.. Any female co-worker can make any accusation they like and they will be Auto believed and you will lose you job and be lucky to avoid being thrown into prison.. If people are wise they will reduce socialization with fellow workers down to the absolute minimum..
Actually lot of truth in what he is saying, if you are a man socializing with any work place female is just a bad idea, all it takes is one to lie and the mans life is ruined.
It's a funny thing. Now days, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, people are going to talk, and usually seem to enjoy believing the worst about others.

I had a job a while back in which I worked odd hours (so most of the staff there was male), and there was really only one guy I talked to much at all. It wasn't because I was trying to be a snob, it was because all the others were either goofing around not getting anything done, and/or, they were high.

The guy I used to stop and talk to briefly every now and then was someone who seemed like he was actually in his right mind and was always working.

After I left that job, my own boss texted me to ask if I was sleeping with him, because apparently that's what he was telling everyone once I was gone. I was shocked and saddened, most especially that my boss might actually believe that about me because we had spent a lot of time talking bout our lives.

Unfortunately, the store was located in an area where that's what pretty much everyone did, so people just expected it. Fortunately, I had moved on to a place where this person's lies would not affect my career, but I was also pretty upset that I couldn't go back and set the record straight--not that it would have done any good.

Once upon a time, I made almost all my friends through work--now days, I'm a bit cautious.

There's another guy I sometimes say hi to and several people have asked if we're dating (no, and we've never talked or spent time together outside of work, either.)

I'd love to be able to socialize with people outside of work again someday if the opportunity arose (because sometimes that used to involve inviting co-workers to church.) I had an accomplice at another job and one Sunday we rounded up about 6 co-workers who all went to visit our boss's church.

However, the past few years, I've been waiting for God to open doors that will hopefully be "safe", though I've come to accept that people are going to talk no matter how careful you are, and eventually, you have to leave people's own worst thoughts between them and God.

I will, however, always choose to defend myself and state the truth of the matter if I am given the chance.
 

melita916

Senior Member
Aug 12, 2011
10,418
2,660
113
#22
the only time i talk to my coworkers is at work. if there is a text involved, it's about work, and it usualliy involves everybody in the office. if i'm on call, i'll text coworkers during the weekend because it involves work lol.

if i do spend time with someone outside of work, it's always because of work aka the office christmas party lol. i generally don't get involved in personal things with others, but it's not like i avoid it all together. when my mom passed her citizenship test, i shared that news with errbody! :)
 

seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
14,943
4,587
113
#23
Sorry for the double post, but I also wanted to add a couple of stories. :) In college, I worked at a place where of course, most of the kids working there were partying it up whenever they had a chance. A friend and I started asking people if they wanted to go to church on Sunday, and one of the most memorable weekends during that time was when a carload of kids from my workplace all went to visit a local church...

After which, one of the church members promptly scolded one of our group for lighting up a cigarette as soon as he got outside (which wasn't allowed on church property.) I understand these kinds of things (I grew up in the midst of it), but I always felt that person could have approached this guy in kinder, gentler way, especially since it was his first time going to that church. He was studying various world religions, so this wasn't a very friendly introduction to Christianity. And, it was a group of college kids in the early 90's, so yes, a lot of them did smoke, and not just cigarettes to boot.

It's amazing what God can do in a work place though. I had another job I was at for a very long time, amidst a group of co-workers who were all young and so we were all kind of figuring out life together. There were some times when we would socialize after work, and after some time, an astonishing thing began to happen--instead of everyone coming in hung-over on Monday morning and asking what party people went to or how drunk they got, some of those same people started coming in and asking, "What did you do this weekend? Did you go to church?"

I know that every situation is different and each person must use their own discernment, but for me, if God leads me to socialize with others from work, I see it as a chance to get to know about them and their lives, so I know better how to approach them when talking about matters of faith.
 
Mar 22, 2013
4,718
124
63
Indiana
#24
seoul, granted people will talk.

point that was trying to be made is men have life to lose by socializing with female workers. all it takes is one to totally ruin the guys life. maybe he rejected her advance, maybe he got a promotion she thinks she should have, all she has to do is scream rape or sexual harassment and he is terminated and his life is ruined. if not in a jail cell his work life is over. he will be known as the one who was fired for sexual "crimes" not many places will hire someone who was terminated for sexual harassment or sexual crime.

welcome to 2018 where men are guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent you are still guilty.
 
H

Hamarr

Guest
#25
I used to hang out with co workers more. One was a good friend that moved out of state. We used to go to a lot of midnight showings together. I was always exhausted the next day, but it was fun.

I have backed off from some of them that have some issues like codependency and other issues. This is part of me getting better about setting boundaries. We did have some fun going to 5ks and stuff.

I’m not sure how much I want to mix work and private life anymore. A lot od the time we fall back to talking about work stuff, and it starts to feel like I am on the clock.

I did have some co workers spread rumors about me and a woman I worked with about 15 or so years ago. We were kind of tied at the hip for awhile and did everything together. I’m not sure what she thought of the rumors. I thought they were funny. This was way before metoo, though. I’ve leanred ro be wary of co workers wanting to be that close since then.
 

TamLynn

A heart at rest
Nov 27, 2014
985
1,016
93
#26
Rarely outside of work, but every so often yes. :)
I'm blessed to work with amazing people who have become my friends.
We do text/ message each other regularly though outside of work times.
 
M

Miri

Guest
#27
I think in my case, it doesn’t help that it’s very much a
“Nose to the grindstone” kind of place. Too busy to talk and if
you do try to chat for 5 minutes while making coffee etc. There is
always a ringing phone to answer.

Plus the work needs a lot of concentration. On the plus side the day
just flies by.
 

Mel85

Daughter of the True King
Mar 28, 2018
10,910
6,894
113
#28
seoul, granted people will talk.

point that was trying to be made is men have life to lose by socializing with female workers. all it takes is one to totally ruin the guys life. maybe he rejected her advance, maybe he got a promotion she thinks she should have, all she has to do is scream rape or sexual harassment and he is terminated and his life is ruined. if not in a jail cell his work life is over. he will be known as the one who was fired for sexual "crimes" not many places will hire someone who was terminated for sexual harassment or sexual crime.

welcome to 2018 where men are guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent you are still guilty.
Welcome to 2018 where almost everyone believes rumours.
 

Adstar

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2016
7,426
3,479
113
#30
A bit sexist there, huh?

I mean, any man or woman can make false accusations about someone else, not just females.

And here you were replying to a female (Miri) as well. Lol.
No..my post was not sexist.. It was realist.. That is the world we now live in.. A place where all a woman has to do is make an accusation and a man is deemed guilty until he proves himself to be innocent.. The injustice of modern western society is evil..

The difference between mens accusations and woman's accusations these days is that men have to back up their accusations with proof while a womans accusations needs no proof.. The responsibility is put upon the man to provide proof that the womans accusation is false.. If he is in the sad position that he has no proof then He is deems guilty of the accusation and suffers the penalty even if He is totally innocent..

Yes i reply to both woman and men and i reply with the truth.. Sometimes people don't like hearing the truth.. Sometimes they want only to hear sweet ear tickling lies and when you give them the truth they slander you with accusations like you are a sexist... Such is life when you are a truth teller..
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
24,931
8,176
113
#33
seoul, granted people will talk.

point that was trying to be made is men have life to lose by socializing with female workers. all it takes is one to totally ruin the guys life. maybe he rejected her advance, maybe he got a promotion she thinks she should have, all she has to do is scream rape or sexual harassment and he is terminated and his life is ruined. if not in a jail cell his work life is over. he will be known as the one who was fired for sexual "crimes" not many places will hire someone who was terminated for sexual harassment or sexual crime.

welcome to 2018 where men are guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent you are still guilty.
You really do have to bring that up in every thread, don't you?
 
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,718
113
#34
seoul, granted people will talk.

point that was trying to be made is men have life to lose by socializing with female workers. all it takes is one to totally ruin the guys life. maybe he rejected her advance, maybe he got a promotion she thinks she should have, all she has to do is scream rape or sexual harassment and he is terminated and his life is ruined. if not in a jail cell his work life is over. he will be known as the one who was fired for sexual "crimes" not many places will hire someone who was terminated for sexual harassment or sexual crime.

welcome to 2018 where men are guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent you are still guilty.
Yep. Valid point.
 

Demi777

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2014
6,877
1,949
113
Germany
#35
seoul, granted people will talk.

point that was trying to be made is men have life to lose by socializing with female workers. all it takes is one to totally ruin the guys life. maybe he rejected her advance, maybe he got a promotion she thinks she should have, all she has to do is scream rape or sexual harassment and he is terminated and his life is ruined. if not in a jail cell his work life is over. he will be known as the one who was fired for sexual "crimes" not many places will hire someone who was terminated for sexual harassment or sexual crime.

welcome to 2018 where men are guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent you are still guilty.
How about stop making ALL of us woman look bad
 

Kaps89

Well-known member
Nov 19, 2018
219
305
63
Kent, England
#36
Depends who it is. I work in an office with ten people and would consider one of them a friend. We hang out occasionally although not as often as we'd like because we're always at work. But I like creating a line between work/pleasure so I don't socialise with anyone else in the office.

T
 

cinder

Senior Member
Mar 26, 2014
4,328
2,361
113
#37
Never mix Work and Pleasure... That's an old wise saying that i go by...

Socializing with fellow workers is becoming more and more dangerous especially in these MeToo witch hunt days.. Any female co-worker can make any accusation they like and they will be Auto believed and you will lose you job and be lucky to avoid being thrown into prison.. If people are wise they will reduce socialization with fellow workers down to the absolute minimum..
A bit sexist there, huh?

I mean, any man or woman can make false accusations about someone else, not just females.

And here you were replying to a female (Miri) as well. Lol.
The extremely negative guys in this thread do have a valid point. While it's true that anyone can make false accusations, society at large tends to have a view that men always want sex and have less self control in that area than women ( whether such a view is a factual representation of reality is highly debateable). In practice this means that a man who tries to accuse a woman of giving him unwanted sexual attention with be viewed as either a liar (because men always want sex) or that there's something wrong with him (because he's an unnatural man to not want sex). It's easy to believe a woman making an accusation on the other hand because it fits with the dominant paradigm that men are always after sex and have a tendency to not be self controlled enough to not take it too far. And an accusation of wrongdoing, even if you're cleared, can lead to a lot of stress and possibly suspicion.

I can't help but wonder though, if we become a people so afraid of the consequences of false accusations that we avoid contact with the opposite sex, what is going to happen when the consequences of being a Christian and obeying God become severe enough to ruin careers and lives? And if we as the people who believe God is in control and can bring justice and victory out of things going wrong can't find the courage to interact with others in a healthy and sincere way, who will?
 
H

Hamarr

Guest
#38
I can't help but wonder though, if we become a people so afraid of the consequences of false accusations that we avoid contact with the opposite sex, what is going to happen when the consequences of being a Christian and obeying God become severe enough to ruin careers and lives? And if we as the people who believe God is in control and can bring justice and victory out of things going wrong can't find the courage to interact with others in a healthy and sincere way, who will?
I've read some stuff about this happening in church situations, as well. I'm not sure how common that is.

I'm kind of torn on this. I have tried to be more mindful of how I interact with women at work since the whole metoo thing started happening. I don't really flirt much with co workers, but I have backed off on getting too personal and friendly with them. But some of the women I interact with still make a numbe of sexual comments.

It's a bit too easy to get so caught up in worry, though. That seems like a quick trip to seeing women as the enemy or something. That's something I also want to be aware of. It's good to be aware that women can also do awful things, but there are also a lot of great women out there.

Depends who it is. I work in an office with ten people and would consider one of them a friend. We hang out occasionally although not as often as we'd like because we're always at work. But I like creating a line between work/pleasure so I don't socialise with anyone else in the office.

T
I think I would want to socialize less if it was a smaller workgroup. My team has about 60 people, plus we work a lot with other sections. People aren't that involved with each others lives here, or it doesn't feel that way. I have worked night jobs where there were only 10 people, and once they started hanging out together it was non stop drama at work.
 

melita916

Senior Member
Aug 12, 2011
10,418
2,660
113
#39
We have 8 people in the office, but idk how many in the field. If I socialize with someone, it’s because it started as a work convo and then evolved to story time lol. But then we all go back to our work.

One time, I went to happy hour with coworkers as a goodbye time for someone who was leaving the company. I lasted about 30 mins.

Another time, I went to lunch with 3 coworkers because they asked me if I wanted to go. But talk was mainly about work lol.

Errbody knows I’m the office introvert, so I mainly stick to myself, but if someone wants a chat, I won’t turn them away. :)