Knowing Your Boundaries at Work

了解工作時的禁忌

陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。他在走廊上遇到同事Amy。

(Office ambience)

C: 早上好，Amy. 我剛聽到一條辦公室的小道消息。

A: 小道消息？

C: 是關于銷售部那個金發美女Sally的。

A: I know a Sally Smith in Marketing. I don't know anything about her except that she appears to be quite talented.

C: 我從來沒有跟她共事過，聽說挺能干的，不過這件事跟工作無關。

A: Then why are you talking about her?

C: 我聽說她結婚剛剛幾個月，就在鬧離婚了。

A: I'm sorry, Chen Hao. What does this have to do with work?

C: 當然跟工作無關了，說說罷了。

A: This is gossip. How did you come to know this?

C: 會計部的Tim跟Sally是朋友，他告訴了Melissa, Melissa又告訴了我。

A: So, is everyone talking about this now?

C: 大家都在傳。Amy，你干嘛那么不高興，是因為Sally要離婚，替她覺得惋惜嗎？

A: No. Well, yes, I am sorry to hear that kind of news, but that is not what is bothering me. Let's talk about this over lunch.

C: 好，那我們中午在餐廳見。

陳豪和Amy一起吃中飯。

C: Amy, 你早上干嘛那么生氣，是我說錯話了嗎？

A: You got into a conversation that you shouldn't have at work.

C: 你什么意思，我怎么聽不懂啊？

A: We need to have boundaries in the office.

C: Boundaries，界限？

A: Yes. Boundaries or limits on what we talk about in the workplace.

C: 你的意思是說Sally的私事不應該拿到辦公室里來說？

A: Talking about Sally's private life has nothing to do with our work. Whoever started this kind of gossip overstepped the bounds of office friendship.

C: 我不是告訴你了嗎，是Tim最早開始傳的？

A: If that is the case, then Sally should have been more careful about choosing her office friends and about what she confided in them.

C: 難道Sally也有錯嗎？

A: We need to be careful about what we confide to our colleagues. Unless you can trust someone completely and unless you want your private life to become public, be careful what you say to whom.

C: 我以為同事間應該經常交流，才能有利于搞好關系啊！

A: That's true. It's called "small talk." You talk about the weather, what movie you saw last night, your favorite restaurant, where you are going on vacation, but not the personal details of your life.

C: 可以談天氣、談電影、談出去渡假，就是不能談私生活。

A: Be careful about what you tell your colleagues. Those who talk to you about others will also talk to others about you.