Work Wonderings

My sister-in-law sent me the funniest photo via Facebook.  It reads, "Sometimes I can't figure out if I'm in preschool or high school.  Oh, wait...I'm at work."  I was very surprised at how many people shared my sharing of this photo.  Then I realized that I am not alone in how I've been feeling at every job that I've ever had.

Upon graduating from college (with a 3.8 GPA), I was excited to enter the working world.  I was ready to use my skills and talents to make a difference.  However, I soon found myself feeling like I had never left the halls of high school.  All of my co-workers were into spreading gossip, even when they knew the things they were saying were not true.  Some even took to using social media to "cyber bully" other workers.  While I was never the target of the bullying, I felt enraged.  What gave these people the right to treat others this way?  Not to mention the fact that this created a very hostile work environment.  Every day, I would just try to keep my head down and avoid notice.

Still, this ridiculous behavior continues to run rampant through businesses across the country.  And nothing is being done to stop it.  I still recall sitting at my desk listening to everyone around me get asked if they would like to order lunch while I was purposely left out.  While this was certainly not the end of the world, it is extremely rude and uncalled for.  What message does this send to the person who is not being invited?  More importantly, how does this make the person feel?

I once was chosen to head up a large project for one of my employers.  This sent my other co-workers into a frenzy.  None of them wanted the extra responsibilities that came along with the project.  They just wanted the temporary title.  These are the same people that I observed texting and surfing the Internet every day instead of doing their job.  Needless to say, I was shunned for the duration of the project.

While it is nice to know that I am not the only one who has dealt with feeling this way, I wish that we as human beings could rise above the high school mentality and be the mature adults that we are meant to be.  Maybe then we could start seeing a change in the world.