Skip to main content

Being Friendly and Nicknames

A co-op student started her term in a big company. It was her first work experience, and she didn't quite like how she felt in the first few days. After a lifetime surrounded with friends, she felt the need to go out of her way to be friendly with all her new seniors.

First of all, she learnt all their names.
Then she started to communicate face-to-face, rather than via emails.
Then, feeling decidedly more comfortable, she started giving nicknames to her colleagues and call/email them by that nicknames. She felt they could be on a friendlier term when she did this.

Her colleagues, not knowing why she suddenly called them by shortened/different names, felt that she was being rude. It didn't help that one of the nickname she gave was actually the name the colleague was bullied with as a child (in another culture). So it seemed as if she was mocking them.

It is sufficient to say that her relationship with her colleagues did not improve, and they only talked on a need-to basis.

Lesson: Don't give people nicknames they don't approve of. Especially if those people are your colleagues (or seniors) at work place. (Exceptions apply to close friends -- they may know you mean no harm).


On the same note, don't people know that names are sacred? If his name is Matthew and he says, "you can call me Matt", then it's okay to call him Matt. On the other hand, if her name is Rebecca and she says, "my name is Rebecca [full stop]", then don't call her Becky. (And I know a "Steven" who doesn't want to be called "Steve" -- so don't assume).

Just ranting...

Comments

LG said…
Hahahaha... I agree!
I won't allow people, except my Trinitas friends, to call me Binn hoho.

Popular posts from this blog

Myth or ?

Now that my daughter hits 10 month mark, she starts to move more actively around. She doesn't quite walk yet, but she tries. Her feet don't move one in front of the other, but her whole body make a "jump" to compensate. As such, she fell and hit her head. A part of her forehead was swollen. And when we called our family, the single advice that everyone gave us was: Rub oil on it, and then rub a knife on it. This was totally the way we were brought up. I remember seeing an adult rubbing the swollen part of a child's head with knife. It works too! But it makes me wonder... Why does it work? Do we still have to do that nowadays?

Amigurumi: Single Pea and Deadly Cute Ninja

I think I was bitten by the craft bugs. Here's my next creation: the single pea (because making 3 of them in solid green is just too much for my eyes) and the deadly but cute ninja. Chris called them Peany and Ninji. Peany, Dora, Ninji, and Mushy posing together It's hard to see from this photo, but Ninji actually has a sling (in a slightly different color) around his body, and a mini ninja star. And talk about proportion... the vegetables are larger than the cat and the person. Makes you wonder, isn't it?