etiquette in the workplace...

I have a lot of pet peeves, but one that bugs me more than most is unprofessionalism in the workplace. I’ve never met so many rude people in my life. Since when it is appropriate for a manager to ask what rumors are going around in the middle of a staff meeting? It only spurs more rumors.

When is it appropriate to ask about someone’s health problems in a middle of a meeting? Even when that person isn’t there.

I think I hit my boiling point this week when I got a political e-mail from a co-worker earlier this week. It’s really not about the fact that I didn’t agree with the e-mail (it was completely endorsing mccain/palin, that’s another entry), but it’s the fact that the workplace is not for political e-mails nor conversation. What really pissed me off is the fact that my co-worker e-mailed it to my immediate boss who has made it (inappropriately) clear she was voting for obama and was pro-choice. So why e-mail it to her? My co-worker fell short of e-mailing it to our higher up who has also made it (inappropriately) clear she was a democrat.

I thought the bad etiquette would end there, but it didn’t. A manager asked a co-worker of mine how much she bought her christmas tree for. It wouldn’t have bothered me so if much, if it hadn’t been the third time I’ve had her ask somebody how much something cost. It’s none of her freaking business! I know she won’t ask me something like that because I will tell her exactly that.

All of this has got me thinking, where has good etiquette gone. Should I insist that our team take an etiquette course? Or maybe it’s that these people don’t have any common sense?

The older I get the more I realize I’m a lot smarter than I have ever given myself credit. I should start aiming a tad higher.