Dirty Laundry

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Dirty Laundry
Don’t you hate it when…
One of your co-workers, whose office or cubicle is right near you, has the most personal and loud arguments by phone with her husband, lover or mother, showing complete disregard for you and everyone else within earshot. Even if you try not to listen, you can’t help but get dragged into the seamy soap opera, learning intimate details about your co-worker’s nasty divorce or her cheating husband’s visits to the strip club or her mother’s painful hemorrhoids. Although you want to ignore it, the volume and tantalizing tales are impossible to tune out. Surprisingly, this co-worker doesn’t seem to have any qualms about airing her dirty laundry in the office.

Wouldn’t you love to…
Go completely against your better judgment and don’t hide from the sordid situation—call more attention to it! If your loudmouth colleague doesn’t mind airing her dirty laundry, give her more “air time.” That’s what all reality shows do. Next time you hear the start of one of her personal phone arguments, immediately send an email alert to everyone in the office to stop by for a dose of live “reality TV” minus the commercials. Set up a few chairs. Keep a bag of popcorn on-hand to serve for the occasion. Let everyone enjoy the show. You may even want to videotape it to share with anyone else who might have missed the show in your office, in your company’s other branch offices and in the global community of reality TV fans.