Anybody else have coworkers who tattle?

[alarimer]

I do. Well one, anyway. Anything and everything that he dislikes he tells my boss. Fortunately my boss has an open-door policy and I can often offset any potential damage by talking to him first, so as to get my side of the story in. But when something happens between my coworker and me, I am often on pins and needles waiting for my boss to call me in. It doesn't happen if my boss doesn't think the perceived offense was very important.

Anyway, when I was a kid, my parents taught me that tattling was almost worse than the original crime. I can see telling the boss if you are repeatedly doing something against the rules or unsafe, but for merely arguing over a point of contention, I don't see it.

This guy is a real piece of work. I think he has issues with women. Just a hunch, though, nothing I can really pin down. When the boss was in the process of hiring an intern, my coworker made a point of mentioning that he hoped they would hire someone strong: if they had to hire a "girl", make sure she wasn't little. Now I am on 5 feet tall myself (but not exactly petite). Any able-bodied person can do my job. As long as you can carry 20 pounds or so (not a tall order for most people, especially 20 year old college students of any gender).

Don't even get me started on their attitudes towards a transgendered colleague. Enlightened they most certainly are not.

[NightWatcher]

1. just carve "snitches get stitches" into his desk

and let that do the talking for ya.

[alarimer]

2. LOL I should

It's just so stupid.

I swear, it's like elementary school at work. everyone talks about everyone else when they are not around.

[xmas74]

3. I have a few right now.

They also make things up when they have nothing on someone, just to see them get in trouble.

I'm going through quite a bit w/ them and I suspect they are trying to get me fired.

[Nikia]

4. The flip side: My boss says don't tell.and it feels creepy

"Don't tell on me because you'll get into trouble too." "We're in this together." "You'll just make things worse for yourself if you tell."
That language sounds like something a child molestor would say.

[alarimer]

5. well that's bad too

Especially for big stuff like sexual harassment or other major offenses. I was mostly talking about petty stuff and always worrying about whether he would tell on me for any perceived offenses.

[brook]

6. Of course.

There's at least one in every crowd. I give our official tale carrier my best anti-management rant -one that burns the ears. Dunno why I don't get canned but suspect that it has something to do with the fact my colorful language filtered through tale carrier's delicate sensibilities makes no sense.