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Isn't "your coworkers are not your friends, and your work is not your life" kind of depressing, capitalism-realistic, take? I don't see why we couldn't live in

by js8 2y ago

Isn't "your coworkers are not your friends, and your work is not your life" kind of depressing, capitalism-realistic, take? I don't see why we couldn't live in a world where coworkers are our friends and work is our life. (My father was a university professor during communist Czechoslovakia, and his life was this kind of way, so it's certainly possible.)

itsoktocry 2y ago
>I don't see why we couldn't live in a world where coworkers are our friends and work is our life. They aren't your friends by default, but nothing says they can't be your friend. In fact, many of my best friends in life are/were coworkers.
InsideOutSanta 2y ago
"Isn't "your coworkers are not your friends, and your work is not your life" kind of depressing, capitalism-realistic, take?" To me, it's just healthy countermessaging to the "we're all a big family" message that corporations tend to send out. We're all a big family... as long as that message helps you identify with the corporation you work for, and makes you behave as if you had an actual stake in the company. As soon as you are no longer useful to the company, though, you're gone. It's a one-way relationship. Most of the "friends" you make at work are friends of convenience. They're friends merely because you spend a lot of time together. It's a backwards relationship. In a healthy friendship, you find people you like, then you decide to spend time together. In a "work friendship", you are forced to spend time together, so you decide that you're friends. Sometimes it works out, because you also actually like each other, but most of the friendships you make at work will stop being friendships when you no longer work together. In my opinion, it's emotionally unhealthy to confuse "work friendship" with real friendship, where people actually care for you, and when your dad dies, don't just immediately go back to normal after posting condolences on Microsoft Teams.

by js8 2y ago

itsoktocry 2y ago

>I don't see why we couldn't live in a world where coworkers are our friends and work is our life. They aren't your friends by default, but nothing says they can't be your friend. In fact, many of my best friends in life are/were coworkers.

InsideOutSanta 2y ago

"Isn't "your coworkers are not your friends, and your work is not your life" kind of depressing, capitalism-realistic, take?" To me, it's just healthy countermessaging to the "we're all a big family" message that corporations tend to send out. We're all a big family... as long as that message helps you identify with the corporation you work for, and makes you behave as if you had an actual stake in the company. As soon as you are no longer useful to the company, though, you're gone. It's a one-way relationship. Most of the "friends" you make at work are friends of convenience. They're friends merely because you spend a lot of time together. It's a backwards relationship. In a healthy friendship, you find people you like, then you decide to spend time together. In a "work friendship", you are forced to spend time together, so you decide that you're friends. Sometimes it works out, because you also actually like each other, but most of the friendships you make at work will stop being friendships when you no longer work together. In my opinion, it's emotionally unhealthy to confuse "work friendship" with real friendship, where people actually care for you, and when your dad dies, don't just immediately go back to normal after posting condolences on Microsoft Teams.