Since this topic is all over every type of media right now, I figured I would take a quick departure from English and Education topics and offer a quick Friday tip on how to act in the workplace.
Because of the monsoon of harassment claims now popping up, everyone is clamoring for more workplace training (ugh) and legal guidelines (double ugh) to help people understand how they are supposed to conduct themselves in the presence of the opposite sex (BTW, are we even allowed to say "opposite sex" these days? After all, if gender doesn't matter, then how do we know if we should be offended? I digress...).
We don't need more HR people laying down rules for how to act and holding termination threats over offenders' heads. The responsibility is with each individual, and it's very easy to employ. Here it is:
Always pretend that your spouse is standing right next to you while you're at work. And pretend that everyone else's spouses are standing next to them while at work. If you wouldn't do or say something in front of your own spouse AND theirs, then you shouldn't do it. If your spouse AND their spouse wouldn't mind, then it's probably casual, friendly, and acceptable.
Don't comment on others' clothing or attractiveness, and don't touch other people, if your spouse or theirs would be creeped out and want to smack you. That's it. Police yourselves by employing this rule, and you'll always keep yourself out of trouble.
Because of the monsoon of harassment claims now popping up, everyone is clamoring for more workplace training (ugh) and legal guidelines (double ugh) to help people understand how they are supposed to conduct themselves in the presence of the opposite sex (BTW, are we even allowed to say "opposite sex" these days? After all, if gender doesn't matter, then how do we know if we should be offended? I digress...).
We don't need more HR people laying down rules for how to act and holding termination threats over offenders' heads. The responsibility is with each individual, and it's very easy to employ. Here it is:
Always pretend that your spouse is standing right next to you while you're at work. And pretend that everyone else's spouses are standing next to them while at work. If you wouldn't do or say something in front of your own spouse AND theirs, then you shouldn't do it. If your spouse AND their spouse wouldn't mind, then it's probably casual, friendly, and acceptable.
Don't comment on others' clothing or attractiveness, and don't touch other people, if your spouse or theirs would be creeped out and want to smack you. That's it. Police yourselves by employing this rule, and you'll always keep yourself out of trouble.