Yes, They're Like That Even Outside the Office

Submitted by Wendy:

I left one job for another in summer 2008, and before I left the first job, one of my coworkers, Alan, asked me out on a date.  I didn't know much about him, as we both worked in different departments, but he always seemed happy and friendly, and since I was leaving the job anyway, I didn't see anything wrong with taking him up on it.

I worked in a corporate sales division for a telecommunications company.  Not terribly exciting (which is part of the reason why I left) and the last thing that I wanted to do was to talk work over dinner, but that's all that Alan did.

We sat down at a mom and pop cafe and right after we ordered our drinks, he slammed his suitcase on the table and pulled out sales reports and investor queries.  "I was hoping we could go over these..." he said.

I said in no uncertain terms, "I'm not here to go over work stuff.  Is that why you asked me out?"

He stared at me and said, "No.  I just thought... it was one thing we already had in common."

"Well, we're spending time together to find out what else we have in common, right?"

He looked down at his paperwork, really sad.  "I guess so."

I felt bad for the guy.  He was probably just nervous, so I said, "Let's go over a couple of things, but then we'll put it away.  I'm here to not talk about work."

We went over a few figures and reports, and the time came for our dinner orders.  Neither of us had even looked at the menu, so we took a break to do that.  When the waitress came by again and took our orders, I suggested to Alan that he put the work stuff away.  It was nothing urgent.

He took a very different tone with me, then.  He said, "Just because you're leaving, it doesn't mean that you don't have any responsibilities at the office."

Taken aback, I said, "I fulfill all of my responsibilities in the office, Alan.  You're not my boss so you wouldn't know, but one thing I refuse to do is go over work stuff in my off hours."

"You never take anything seriously.  No wonder you're being fired!"

Whoa!  What the hell?  I said, "I'm not being fired.  I'm quitting!"

"Because you don't take your work seriously!"

"Because I don't want sales figures and company reports to be my entire life."

He smirked and said, "You're obviously bad at it."

I stood up and said, "And you're obviously bad at being a gentleman," loud enough for everyone to hear, and I stormed out.

The next day at work, I found out that Alan had gone to my boss to complain about "how I treated him."  He was severely reprimanded, as it apparently wasn't the first time he had pulled this.  I couldn't wait to leave this place.