Cussing in the Workplace - World Series Edition

Ever want to cuss in the workplace?  Sure you have.  No matter how principled, proper and professional you are, you've received bad news in the workplace and wanted to drop some profane science.  It's OK, you're human.

For those of you who abstain from dropping the F-Bomb in the break room, why the self-control?  Maybe you want to set a more professional example than that, or maybe you're worried that you'll get run out of your company on a rail as a result of picking up the habit.  If you're a HR pro, keeping the cursing to a minimum usually comes with the territory.  Open door policy, being approachable and all that...

Watching the World Series, I can't help but think the workplace that is professional sports has become more progressive through a little thing called the glove shield.  You know the glove shield - it's the technique used by professional baseball players taking a meeting at the pitcher's mound, so someone in the opposing clubhouse can't figure out what they are saying.

Guess what?  Using the glove shield, baseball pros can now cuss at will on camera without folks like me wondering if our kids should be watching.  From Andy Katz 360:

"Pitchers have diversified their use of the glove shield. They love to cover their face when walking to the dugout at the end of the inning so they can drop an F-bomb or two without getting picked up by the camera. (I would love to hear a pitcher miked up when they do the glove shield routine. This could be shown on my new cable sports channel, where the announcers freely curse. You can't tell me that John McEnroe wouldn't sign up immediately for a gig like that. I'm getting off on a tangent here. This topic might deserve its own blog entry."

Like Andy, I'm wondering if you could pull that off in the workplace, by picking up a glove and bringing it to work for your next tough meeting:

"Boss: These spreadsheets you're working on, it's almost as if you've never seen Microsoft Office products before. Perhaps we should send you to an entry-level class to explain the science behind increasing the default width of columns in Excel...

You: (covering face with baseball glove). You *&^* *^@*&*&. Why don't you go ^&%$ &^%$$^.
(remove glove). Let me give it another try. I know I can do a better job.

Or you could request an extra FTE to do spreadsheets for you.  See how that one goes...

Comments

[Rachel]

I love working in a what I call a "swearing office." Both my current employer and my last one didn't care if we let an F-bomb or two pass through our lips. In fact, my boss, when she was really stressed would say things like "F*** a duck".

Work is hard enough without having to censor every word that comes out of my mouth. I work with adults, and until someone complains I am grateful that I can let loose occasionally (but I did refrain from actually calling my last boss what I wanted to call her)