Recently I was in the Taipei office and a co-worker left her notebook on my desk. She’s a university graduate, English major, and a recent hire. The newest office flower and coffee/tea maker, as I like to call them.
I flip through the pages of the notebook in order to figure out whom it belongs to. One of the pages in the book was written in English, which caught my attention. However, upon reading the passage I realize they are medical descriptions of STD copied from a health textbook or her own personal translations of the Chinese text. Obviously the text is in English as code to prevent prying eyes from making sense to the general public on Taiwan.
I put the notebook back where I found it on my desk, and figure I would hand it back to her when I had more time. Of course I forget and she catches me in the hallway. Some small talk ensure about jet lag, then she mentioned if I seen her notebook, I mentioned that I think she left it on my desk during the last meeting.
She has mentioned to me she has a boyfriend. But I am also aware that one of the office managers has been eyeing her as well and they seem to be getting along.
Part of me says I should get involved, prevent a mini-epidemic, and promote harmony in the office. The manager and I have a pretty good relationship, so I don’t think communicating to him that he may have caught an STD is not a problem. Hell, he might just show up in my office and ask for advice soon.
The girl I’m more concerned about because she definitely has potential in the firm. So I have no interest in jeopardizing her career. She’s new and I’m in no position to mentor her professionally let alone personally. Hell,
I might become the target of office rumors if I get too close to her.
The other part of me says, this is a land mine and no matter how you broach the subject there is just going to be mangled pieces that will need to be cleaned up. So best not get involved at all.
You have NO IDEA why those things are written in her notebook.
But really, is she hot? [/quote]
I gotta agree - you don’t know who they were for or anything. Maybe her lil sis got an STD and she is trying to help out. Also since you weren’t meant to see that notebook I’d say you should forget about it. Just make sure you don’t bang her. lol.
This topic is more about relationships at work. Better not to have them, rumors everywhere. And people are (mostly) not discreet. Being a foreigner in Taiwan someone can always find a gf or other partners etc outside the company. If there is the ‘one’ just inside your company, then there is nothing you can do.
With STD…always the same. Try to use protection or don’t do it.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]
I put the notebook back where I found it on my desk, and figure I would hand it back to her when I had more time. Of course I forget and she catches me in the hallway. Some small talk ensure about jet lag, then she mentioned if I seen her notebook, I mentioned that I think she left it on my desk during the last meeting.
She has mentioned to me she has a boyfriend. But I am also aware that one of the office managers has been eyeing her as well and they seem to be getting along.
Part of me says I should get involved, prevent a mini-epidemic, and promote harmony in the office. The manager and I have a pretty good relationship, so I don’t think communicating to him that he may have caught an STD is not a problem. Hell, he might just show up in my office and ask for advice soon.
The girl I’m more concerned about because she definitely has potential in the firm. So I have no interest in jeopardizing her career. She’s new and I’m in no position to mentor her professionally let alone personally. Hell,
I might become the target of office rumors if I get too close to her.
The other part of me says, this is a land mine and no matter how you broach the subject there is just going to be mangled pieces that will need to be cleaned up. So best not get involved at all.[/quote]
What she does in her off hours is no concern of yours. Why are you even questioning this? When you saw that this notebook was not of a professional nature why did you not put it down and put it back on her desk.
AC, I detect interest on your part, even though you are fighting it. A good friend of mine met her future husband at her law office- both were high-powered corporate lawyers. She’s been married happily for around 15 years now. If people work all the time, it’s hard to meet someone outside of work. Having said all that, if I were sinlge, I would never see someone form work romantically, but I would try to enjoy their company in a group. After you get married, you’ll be attracted to people anyway, so it’s important to be able to switch from attraction mode to friendship mode as a habit.
You have NO IDEA why those things are written in her notebook.
But really, is she hot? [/quote]
I gotta agree - you don’t know who they were for or anything. Maybe her lil sis got an STD and she is trying to help out. Also since you weren’t meant to see that notebook I’d say you should forget about it. Just make sure you don’t bang her. lol.[/quote]
I concur. As to the notes, I’ve also researched the names in Chinese for interest sake. I’ve also checked out symptoms and causes, as well as statistics on the web on the major STD’s. I myself have never had an STD. So the fact that she has those notes scribbled in her notebook is not really evidence of anything. Maybe she’s just educating herself.
The recruiting process is pretty selective. Not to say they the management hires attractive people on purpose, but no one is walking around with a hunch back either.
My view on office romance is pretty pragmatic since most people in the office are in their 20’s and 30’s and overtime is more or less the standard. Not many conversations about balancing one’s life as a grunt in the firm. Most of the higher ups are like the archtypes used for self help books.
Interesting twists of events occurred. The young lady in question came into my office to inform me that at the client site one of the client’s senior management made a pass at her. Told her some sob story of going through a divorce and would love to have dinner with her.
The devil on my shoulder, says give her the “take one for the team” speech and let the client get his just desserts.
The angel on my other shoulder says time to roll her off the project and send her into a convent.
I was nervous that I might have gotten something and did check up symthons on some STD,
I did not find anny exsact match and I am in a long time realationship so I decided to see what hapend next and one week later there is no pain or anny discomfort at all.
Maybe your coworker had a similar problem and just looked trough some information.
