winning....?

so, call me crazy, but i don't think people should mix their work lives and their social lives. it just creates a big sloppy mess. the reason i say this is because yesterday, i received a phone call about an interview at Kings Island, the land of fun and games and souls collected from their workers. I hear that people just live at KI and that's all they ever think about.

this is why you don't mix social and work lives. you start living at work, even when your not at work. you start thinking about work at home, and you start categorizing co-workers, feeling jealous at friends promotions, etc.

i'm not saying don't be social at work, sure. go have friends and stuff at work, but when you leave work, leave the friends as well. for me personally, a lot of my co-workers up at OSU all go out and party after work sometimes. what do they all talk about? work? school? it sounds really boring, and this also starts crazy rumors about other co-workers that aren't as laid back and thus, uncool. one of my managers has this reputation, but i've found he's a great guy. sure he works hard, and he can be a little annoying, but if you're working hard and doing your job well, he's not going to get 'mad' at you or even criticize you. he's quite friendly actually. i get along with him. but, there could have been animosity towards him on my part simply because other people had a 'bad' experience with him when he caught them texting instead of working and rebuked or punished them.

again, don't get my wrong. i have friends at work, but that's all they are. i'm not even friends with them on facebook. (crazy right? haha) facebook is a social tool for my social life, but for me at least, it doesn't extend to my workplace.

another thing that goes with this is outreach at your workplace. again, this is all my opinion and i can't speak for everyone, just me. i don't share a lot of my personal life with my friends at work. i just don't. i'm a rather introverted person, and it takes a while to really know me. with work, you can't shove yourself onto people. you'll look like a jerk and no one with like or respect you. however, if you gain a rep. as a friendly person who's a hard worker, first off, your bosses will love you, and second, your work friends don't have a good reason to dislike you, other than that you work hard. so, wait for opportunities for them to reveal a little bit about themselves. one of my friends was asked about the rapture that somehow didn't work. his coworker asked because he knew the guy was a chrisitan. so, the guy responded and was able to clear up a few misconceptions with the coworker and i believe, ask him some deep questions like, well, if it did happen, what would happen to you? questions like that. and that allows for a deeper relationship between the two.

then, we start getting into friendships from work that turn into friendships of a more social personal nature which do happen, and that's not up to us, that's up to God, but if you and your friend only talk about work, then it's a problem.

again, i'm not condemning being social and friendly at work and even developing friendships at work, but if you start to live at work, and the main thing on your mind is work, then it's a problem.

not to offend anyone, and this is just my opinion, but hopefully there is a grain of truth to my ramblings.

Peter.