Why not to gossip in the workplace

When a situation arises at work that can make headline news, it’s SO hard to not mention it to a coworker in passing. We’ve all done it but let me tell you; my lesson was learned long ago and if you still await yours…please read!

I worked at this clinic one time where the office gossip was people magazine, I didn’t realize how much of a danger zone office gossip could be until I experienced the backlash myself. One day it got super stressful at work and my boss about blew her pipe! Earlier that day I spoke with a patient about coming to pick up a package, they told me they would come by sometime that week to pick it up. I went to lunch that day at 12pm not knowing they were coming by that very hour. When i had came back, my supervisor who was known for losing her cool, had 5 different coworkers scavenging my desk looking for this package I hadn’t even finished yet! Because I didn’t leave a note anywhere on my desk about this person coming to pick up, she said in front of everyone to my face “If you were to drop off the face of the earth and not leave a note about what was needed we would never know!!”! I held it together, but almost started crying. My job in general was an unbearable soap opera, so hearing that among other things made me spill and tell. The next day in the break room my coworker was going off about how much she didn’t like our supervisor; how unfair she was and the ridiculously high expectation that came with it all, hearing that I had to share my almost crying spell. Not only that, at the time with everything going on in my job and all the stress I was accumulating; I decided a few weeks back to start looking for a job elsewhere and part of it was because of my supervisor. My colleague threatened to speak to upper management herself without me having any involvement, but at that moment I had already vented and figured it wasn’t worth it and told her to please not say anything… she agreed.

About a week later the manager came in and oddly asked if I was doing well, which is weird because I’ve never really talked to her before. She went into my supervisor’s office with the door closed so I figured they were having their weekly meeting. Not too long after my supervisor sat me down in her office and explained to me chain of events of sheer humility she just experienced. You guys! I have never felt stress like this in my life! My vision got blurry and my eyelids were twitching like an earthquake on my face. I could not believe my colleague spilled the beans! And not just about the comment my supervisor told me, but about me looking for another job and it all being because of her! My face was red and my whole body felt hot, palms sweating.

We ended the conversation shockingly with a hug and a few tears. When your supervisor finds out the dirty truth about how you really feel about them, all sorts of emotions unfold and it’s not pretty. Take it from me and only tell someone anything if you know deep down that it’s anchored to them. Me following the chain of office gossip almost costed me my job and for my supervisor her livelihood.

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