Knowing Your Boundaries at Work

了解工作时的禁忌

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他在走廊上遇到同事Amy。

(Office ambience)

C: 早上好，Amy. 我刚听到一条办公室的小道消息。

A: 小道消息？

C: 是关于销售部那个金发美女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: 我从来没有跟她共事过，听说挺能干的，不过这件事跟工作无关。

A: Then why are you talking about her?

C: 我听说她结婚刚刚几个月，就在闹离婚了。

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

C: 当然跟工作无关了，说说罢了。

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

C: 会计部的Tim跟Sally是朋友，他告诉了Melissa, Melissa又告诉了我。

A: So, is everyone talking about this now?

C: 大家都在传。Amy，你干嘛那么不高兴，是因为Sally要离婚，替她觉得惋惜吗？

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，那我们中午在餐厅见。

陈豪和Amy一起吃中饭。

C: Amy, 你早上干嘛那么生气，是我说错话了吗？

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

C: 你什么意思，我怎么听不懂啊？

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: 你的意思是说Sally的私事不应该拿到办公室里来说？

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: 我不是告诉你了吗，是Tim最早开始传的？

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: 难道Sally也有错吗？

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: 我以为同事间应该经常交流，才能有利于搞好关系啊！

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: 可以谈天气、谈电影、谈出去渡假，就是不能谈私生活。

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