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Situation with coworker

  • 11-12-2018 12:45AM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3


    So to start this off I’m a junior member of staff on a busy team. I’ve been there a year but new enough to my team and the last few months have gotten on relatively well with a male colleague on the team who’s the same age as me (late 20s) but a bit more senior than me. He would always stop and chat with me enquiring about my life/weekends etc. There were often times he would help me with work and was such a gent towards me. We would always have the craic to the point where I really enjoyed work. I found myself starting to get a little crush however I am very against this in the workplace as I think it never ends well. I found myself getting a little quieter around him. In the last few weeks he has started teasing me a lot about being late etc now he always says he’s joking and to be honest I’m easy to wind up and he knows this so I think that’s why he does it. We had a work event recently and he came over briefly to chat while I was talking to one of my female friends and put his arm around me briefly in front of others which caught me totally off guard and in the moment I don’t think I responded much due to shock. Anyway I didn’t see him after that for the rest of the night as I did try to avoid but equally he didn’t approach me anymore. The next week in work he seemed ok towards me but a little colder so I did try to break the ice a little and act normal because I didn’t understand the change in the vibe. We were joking with another colleague and this led to me joking that he looked older, ie the stress) he didn’t really like the joke which was fair enough I did feel bad afterwards to the point where I was worried for a few days and wanted to try apologise at the first opportunity I got. The following day he was extremely cold towards me didn’t speak at all but spoke to others. We had a team event and he brought up the joke I made and told our boss in a matter of fact kind of way, I didn’t appreciate this but I probably deserved it. Anyway when our boss went back to work I made sure to apologise and again tell him I was only joking and I hoped he knew that, to which he replied he did and seemed to be ok with me again. Later that night a lot of us went for a few scoops again he wasn’t interacting with me much, another colleague called him over and he came and sat down beside me, didn’t really engage in convo with me despite my efforts, he just txted on his phone and then moved to the other side of the table away from me to talk to another colleague. I passed him in a corridor a while later and tried not to make eye contact but he kind of nudged my arm in passing so I just gave a brief smile (not sure if he saw this) and later on he was engaging in convos with other females in our office and would bring me in to the convo (I was in other groups talking) by making statements like “what time are you heading back to the office tonight you have to do x” and then proceed to tell these other colleagues that he teases me when I am late etc. This really upset me to be honest as I don’t understand why someone would ignore me in person yet do that around others. Just don’t see the point or what he gained from doing that. Anyway works a bit awkward he hardly spoke to me and I’m still a bit off with him as other colleagues have commented that they thought he was rude to me that night. Safe to say my crush is gone but I’m just a bit confused as to why he has behaved like this. any advice appreciated as I don’t really know what to do and I’m a bit upset our work relationship isn’t the same anymore.


Comments

  • Posts: 11,642 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    <SNIP>

    So, you got a crush on him and he, from the sounds of it got a crush on you. He made a gesture, by putting his arm round you at the party, to which your response was to avoid him for the night.

    He took the message to be "I'm not interested", so he was less engaging with you. Then you made a joke about his hair which he took to mean "not only she's not interested, she doesn't respect me", so he became even more withdrawn.

    You don't paint him in great light, but you don't paint yourself much better.

    "Why would he do this?"

    Because he got all the signals from you that you were interested, and then you avoided him so he got mixed messages and got confused.

    P.S. on the office romance never working out, my parents started as an office romance, they're together 40 years. My ex and me started as an office romance we lasted 13 years. Office romances do sometimes work out.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 7,478 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hannibal_Smith


    Sounds to me like his ego was bruised. Was putting his arm around you his idea of making a pass? And when you didnt respond to it, he turned cold? Or was he acting completely professional after it happened, leaving out all banter?

    If he turned completely professional, then that's not a bad thing. Just get back to going about your work and the awkwardness will fade.

    Regarding the jokes, he makes a joke about you, everyone finds it funny. You make a joke about him, he doesn't like it, am I reading that right? I certainly wouldn't go falling over myself to apologise to someone who can give it but can't take it.

    Best thing is to get back to work and do your job. If he's ignoring you or blanking you out in relation to work, that's a problem. But just keep it professional from now on.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3 Need advice 2226


    Sounds to me like his ego was bruised. Was putting his arm around you his idea of making a pass? And when you didnt respond to it, he turned cold? Or was he acting completely professional after it happened, leaving out all banter?

    If he turned completely professional, then that's not a bad thing. Just get back to going about your work and the awkwardness will fade.

    Regarding the jokes, he makes a joke about you, everyone finds it funny. You make a joke about him, he doesn't like it, am I reading that right? I certainly wouldn't go falling over myself to apologise to someone who can give it but can't take it.

    Best thing is to get back to work and do your job. If he's ignoring you or blanking you out in relation to work, that's a problem. But just keep it professional from now on.

    Thanks Hannibal, I’m not 100% certain the arm thing was a pass it may have just been a friendly gesture (I wasn’t expecting it though and it really confused me) but I am pretty adamant about always never mixing work and personal life. I thought maybe my reaction may have given away that I had a soft spot which he didn’t want to encourage or else offended him because after that the dynamics changed.

    It wasn’t that he was acting professional after it was like I didn’t exist anymore and then rude at the next event which upset me as we had a good working relationship beforehand.

    I just don’t get it and want to just go back to how it was. This is just bugging me as to how/why it got like this as I would’ve thought it was all banter. Hate thinking I’ve offended someone or made someone feel awkward around me! 😪


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,394 ✭✭✭ManOfMystery


    None of us know what's going on in his mind, but it seems like there is an awful amount of second guessing and overthinking going on in your post. Why don't you just ask him for a coffee, and clear the air? Ask him if there's anything up and put your cards on the table. These things can drag out for months when all that's needed is a conversation.

    And for what it's worth, office romances can work out just fine - I had one and married her.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭Fakediamond


    I dunno, he sounds like a bit of a headwrecker to me, blowing hot and cold. I wouldn’t like that business of him being friendly towards you in company and then giving you the cold shoulder when there are no witnesses. Just try and keep a polite, professional distance, don’t overthink things and don’t let him get into your head.


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