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Work buddies

There’s been a lot of changes at work, staffwise, of late. One of the new employees – who works nights – is trying to get more of a social vibe going and have us do stuff together outside of the office. A suggestion that management have enthusiastically seized upon, but ultimately, won’t get any traction.

The thing is, we don’t work in a 9-5 industry. When you have staff starting at any time between 6.30am and 5pm, it’s pretty difficult to organise to get everyone together in one place to socialise. My hours fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum – I do get a lot of facetime with most of my coworkers – and yet, I often don’t feel part of the loop. (It doesn’t help that I’m not there for the daily morning meeting.)

How about you? Do you socialise with your colleagues outside of work?

7 thoughts on “Work buddies

  • Reply Jane April 20, 2010 at 17:44

    I have several good friends that I met at a previous job, but now I tend to be more all-business. Being friendly with coworkers is a good thing, but being friends with coworkers can lead to drama that I just don’t need in my life right now.

  • Reply Veronica April 20, 2010 at 18:23

    I socialize pretty heavily with some of my coworkers. We try to throw a party every once in awhile, and generally everyone who is invited shows up.

    It’s a pretty close knit family. A couple of guys even started a band, and we’ve all been going out and supporting them when they have shows!

  • Reply Serendipity April 20, 2010 at 18:55

    It’s sticky. I became best friends with my co-workers and was passed up it seemed every opportunity I got because one of my friends would have been equal or my boss and it was too stressful for management. But now that all of my friends were laid off and I’m last man standing, it’s better.

  • Reply Sense April 21, 2010 at 00:17

    Agree with above: it can be sticky. In my last job, I ONLY hung out with coworkers (and my roommates), but that was because our schedules were constantly taking us out of town for work and none of us could meet people and maintain a life in the city we lived in…plus we got really close because we had to work together on our 14+ hour fieldweeks out of town. it was friendship bourne out of necessity. it was awkward when one of us was promoted and the rest of us thought she did a terrible job at managing us and the project, and when I heard that she agreed with another manager that I should be fired.

    After a coworker/casual acquaintance that I sometimes hung out with cheated on me with my boyfriend in my current workplace, i decided that it was best to avoid hanging out with anyone from work. However, out of proximity and similar interests, I’ve become close with my officemate and she’s basically my best friend in NZ. There are a few other girls that I work with that I sometimes go to the movies with, or catch a drink with very rarely, but for the most part, no, I don’t hang out with coworkers. There are a few people that I’d like to get to know more outside of work, but I am pretty gun shy at this point.

    i just hate how interacting with people outside of work can color your impression of their work, deservedly or undeservedly. I want my work to stand on its own, no matter what i do in my personal life.

    it can be tricky if the non-work persona is different from the work persona… my roommate invited her coworkers over for a party, and one of the girls is CRAZY. as in, my roommate is her boss, and this girl felt up my roommie and stuck her tongue down her throat randomly. she then invited clients from my roommate’s work (A HUGE NO-NO) over to our apartment and tried to have a threesome with them on our couch. my roommate completely lost respect for her and her work–she’ll never gain that back, no matter what a kick-ass job she does!

  • Reply The Asian Pear April 21, 2010 at 02:31

    socialize… with workers… OUTSIDE of work? o__o?
    what strange abnormal concept is this?

    😀

    heh. j/k.
    but seriously… not really. maybe one or two people but that’s about it. it’s just a bit weird… i mean, i’m already seeing them 8 hours a day.

  • Reply Stephany April 21, 2010 at 13:02

    I don’t but I should. I’m just so busy with school right now but I do have some close friends at work that I want to socialize with more and get to know better.

  • Reply paranoidasteroid April 22, 2010 at 10:55

    I get along really well with my coworkers, and I’ll go to BBQs or happy hours, but in general I don’t hang out with them outside of work. As you can imagine, though, this makes it a little harder to make friends since there is nothing else I do for 8 hours every day!

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