Dear Snarky,
I work with a woman who is temperature control freak. She complains that she is always freezing. It could be the middle of August and she would say she was “sooo cold.” Because of her whining louder than anyone else our office thermostat is set so high the rest of us are sweating buckets.
This annoys me for a lot of reasons but none more than the fact that I’ve seen this woman away from work dressed in shorts in February. For example, a couple of weeks ago it was 38 degrees out and while I was at Target I saw this women in shorts and a T-shirt.
This really made me mad, so I shot a video of her walking outside in the Target parking lot in summer clothes. The next week I saw her at the soccer fields also in shorts when it was below 45 degrees, so I took a video of that. I sent both videos to my co-workers with the question – 40 degrees in shorts so why is the office so hot?
The whole thing blew up in my face because the woman showed it to the owner of the company and now I’m in trouble for “stalking her.”
How do I explain I was just trying to get the office thermostat off of 80 degrees?
Signed, Hot and bothered
Dear Hot,
Temperature wars at the office are definitely a thing. So, I can understand you being miserable. I too, would have a problem working in an 80-degree office. But just because you’re dripping sweat didn’t make it cool for you to take videos of this woman.
This is totally my personal opinion, and I know some people will disagree, but I don’t like people videoing other humans without their permission. It’s one thing to have some random strangers in the background while you tape your kids at a birthday party but to make a co-worker the focus of a video without asking is just wrong. And then to send the video to co-workers – again not cool.
You messed up. I get it, this “always cold co-worker” was wearing shorts outside when the temperature was in the 40’s and you’re thinking WTH? But you crossed a line when you took videos of her. You should have taken your temperature concerns to management instead of becoming an amateur film maker. Admit it – what you did was immature.
I would apologize profusely and offer to buy this woman a state-of-the-art space heater for her desk. Yes, this woman is wrong for holding everyone in the office hostage to her temperature needs and yes it’s compounded by the fact when she’s not at work she’s outside in shorts in February. But by taking the videos and sharing them with co-workers you made yourself the problem.
If you have a question for Dear Snarky – advice with an attitude – email me at snarkyinthesuburbs@gmail.com. 😉
Snarky in the Suburbs 