Is 'Friendly' Epithet Un-Eth?

[MeGustaXL]

12 folks, all flavours, each in a cube.

A walks past B's cube:

B: Hey Butthead, didja get those prints amended?
A: Shoot! No! Thanks for reminding me, Dogbreath!

A goes off, smiling, to amend prints.

Later:

Boss: Hey A and B, I heard from C that you guys are dissing each other and swearing; cut it out y'hear?

A & B:

Anyone see a problem here?

Chris

Don't count the days, make the days count

Muhammad Ali

 

[stubnski]

Not sure what country you're in but in the US that is the norm. I've also had a talking to because of a similar situation...one person eavesdropping is offended so they make the rest of their co-workers life at work boring. I can't stand being politically correct.


Stubnski

 

[Thadeus]

What political group is offended by the words butthead or dogbreath?

Let's not confuse political correctness with stupidity. It gives 'correctness' the 'wrong' connotation.

This is just C's own stupidity.

It is also the sign of a weak manager if they are unable to manage employee C away from this being one of their concerns.

~thadeus

 

[SQLSister]

Personally I find both terms to be unprofessional and while they wouldn't offend me if used here where we have no direct client contact in the office, I would not want them to be used in an office where people outside the company or division could be walking around. Perhaps C was talking to a client at the time the exchange occurred and the client overheard it and said something. Would it still seem so inoffensive?

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[stubnski]

Thadeus - Wrong choice of words, but <Sarcasm> PETA could be offended with the dogbreath remark <Sarcasm>

SQLSister - Good point but MeGustaXL's boss didn't say that a client overheard the conversation, something I'm sure the boss would have said to get his/her point accross instead of putting the blame on a C. Which makes, like Thadeus points out, MeGustaXL's manager a bad manager.

Also butthead and dogbreath are not even close to swear words


Stubnski

 

[CajunCenturion]

I agree with SQLSister. The exchange, although friendly, is unprofessional and shouldn't take place in the office. You never know who is listening or might overhear the remarks. And regardless of whether or not anyone did actually hear, preventing it from happening in the future is part of a manager's responsibility.

That being said, I also agree that the way the manager dealt with the problem is lacking. C should not be brought up in the conversation between A and B, and I don't think the manager should focus on 'dissing each other', but rather something along the lines of "I know you guys are just playing, but this may not be the best time and place for it."

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[Stella740pl]

I am with SQLSister and CajunCenturion here.

I've never heard an exchange like that anywhere I worked.

Yes, butthead and dogbreath are not even close to swear words, but they sound so unprofessional. Of course, no one says you should call a collegue you are friendly with Mr.A, sir, etc.

 

[MeGustaXL]

After reviewing the above, I am with SQLSister and CajunCenturion now. The B##t and Shoot parts could be construed as the thin end of a wedge which has some real coarse language at the other end.

The Boss's approach was lacking, I agree with CC's suggested rewrite of his script 100% (When do we not agree with CC's wise and concise advice? )

Thanks to all for re-balancing a situation that has caused strain over the last 2 days.

BTW: We're in the UK, and I am not a member of the cast, just one of the innocent Cube Heaters!

Chris

Don't count the days, make the days count

Muhammad Ali

 

[Thadeus]

I hope I didn't get taken as believing this was just professional banter and everyone ought to lighten up.

I was merely pointing out (albeit, not in a very nuanced manner) that this is not an issue of political correctness.

I do not hear that type of language in my office either. However I did work with a guy in the mid 1990s that was as unprofessional in language and appearance as they came. He would curb it for large meetings, but in the hall or departmental meetings he had no couth whatsoever. He was a Director answering to a VP. The VP thought it was funny. The Director was both an A-type personality and also one of the brightest IT folks I have ever met. IT oozed out of his pores. I would have a hard time managing him myself, but I would also keep him away from customers until he learned restraint and more professionalism.

And CC, that part about not bringing C into the discussion with A&B is exactly what I meant!

~Thadeus

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> but I would also keep him away from customers
That's pretty sage advice for almost all IT folks, present company included.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[JCreamerII]

MeGustaXL,

Is this a test? I do agree with the sage advice offered by our colleagues in this thread. I like to use as much humor as I can get away with, but once you go negative (even in jest) you can end up on a slippery slope and it becomes easy to have a slip "of the tongue". Because your coworkers and those who may be listening may not have an insight into the actual conversation as you intended, they may take your humor in a different light then intended. But that goes for anything you may say at work, I try to listen to the thoughts in my head before I test it on my coworkers. And yes CC man I am glad they don't ask me to talk to clients anymore.

Jim C.

 

[LadySlinger]

I think that the other part that is lacking is the fact that the boss is speaking slang back to A & B. If they were going to take their boss' advice seriously he should be directing them in a proper manner.

So in the end, I agree with SQL Sister and CC.

 

[MeGustaXL]

JCreamerII: No it's not a test, although it has tested everyone's position on the whole matter of slang/nicknames/terms of endearment/bantering insults.

I'm sure it had no bearing on the matter, but you may be interested to know that "A" and "C" are men; "B" and "Boss" are women.

And no, "C" does not stand for "Chris"

 

[flapeyre]

Hey, I can call my cat Tunabreath, and she's not offended. But she doesn't work in my office, either, and she doesn't deal with customers .

Bottom line: an office environment such as that will foster animosity amongst the staff, and lead to a drop in productivity. You can be friendly without being vulgar. Anything less is unprofessional.

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.

 

[aarenot]

How can one confuse political correctness with stupidity? One is just a subset of the other.


From a chronoligically advantaged, underpaid by the pound(weight for you guys across the pond), with a seriously proceeding forehead.
For the politically correct iliterate

From an old fat bald guy.