[rdgrad15]

I've always wondered if it was possible to be friends with coworkers or not. I always thought it was not possible since you only associate with them at work, and only at work. The reason is because a work place is supposed to have professionalism in it and you should never divulge personal information, especially negative information, to your coworkers and even supervisor. Any personal information released could change their view on you permanently.

That is the impression I always had. The reason I wondered if this was true or not is because where I work, some coworkers seem to be friends with each other and reveal personal information about each other. Even one coworker, who was friends with my supervisor before she became one, still reveals personal information that I would never reveal to any of them. I've heard them reveal stuff and say stuff to each other that I would never say.

There is nothing wrong with being friends, I just always thought there was a fine line between being friendly with coworkers and just being way too casual with each other. Like one coworker offered to buy my supervisor a drink during a get together after work. I would never make such an offer, especially we all work in a high school, and people who work in the field of education are kept at a high standard. I understand they may be friends, but if things got sour, what my coworker offered to do could backfire on her.

Also some coworkers just talk about very personal information, basically stuff you would tell a very close friend. Again, nothing wrong with being friends. I would love to be friends with some of them. But sometimes I wonder if being friends with coworkers can backfire and cause things to go too far. Some things that are said may be okay at first, but if relationships between coworkers or a coworker and supervisor, what was said could be used against you in order to have you terminated. What do you guys think? Can you be friends with coworkers? Are you friends with any of them? Are they crossing the line or do I just have the wrong ideas of what is acceptable and what is not? Just curious.

[Skeezyks]

Well... I think it's a mixed bag, so to speak. People can & do sometimes become friends with co-workers & supervisors. And sometimes it works out. But other times I do think it can become a problem too. Part of the difficulty is there's no way to know what unexpected turns of events may arise as time passes. What may seem perfectly innocent & appropriate at first, could unexpectedly turn into a problem later on. I suppose, to some extent, it perhaps depends on the type of work a person does? I'm no longer working. However back when I was I was never friends with anyone I worked with. But then I was never really friends with anyone. So I suppose the one was simply an extension of the other.