Sitting during the night shift while I type this – why can’t I connect with the people I work with? Or, for better phrasing – WHY is it so challenging to hold decent conversations with coworkers who look like they want nothing to do with you?
I graduated roughly two months ago and landed a job the week after we turned our tassels. It’s a decent gig – I don’t have to commute far, and I’m pursuing a field I studied in school; it seems pretty good, right?
I discovered that it’s EXTREMELY tough to connect with my coworkers, no matter the shift I am assigned. They range in age from 22 – 60, and all vary in personality, yet time and time again, they seem fed up and like they’d rather be home.
But there is ONE thing that connects most everybody at my desk – Sports. Fucking sports. Why did it have to be sports? I haven’t been exposed to any “sports” culture, except for the Super Bowl and family gatherings where cousins and uncles surround our flat screen like zombies regardless of which team is playing. I know nothing about the subculture; I cannot contribute to extended conversations at the desk when they’re rarely had because they mostly revolve around this subject I have little-to-no experience or interest in.
When I’m on the night shift, it’s just myself and usually one other dude who works across from me. Our night crew is all similar in age – early/mid-twenties, yet after sitting with them for nearly a couple of months, I still feel like a stranger to them.
Maybe it’s a normal situation. Perhaps these things take time, and I must adjust to my coworkers better before finding ways to relate with them. Then again, maybe I’m just taking too long to find ways to bridge these gaps… It makes me lowkey depressed having to go into the office these days, not because of the workload, but because I’m worried I’m “that quiet guy” to my coworkers.
How do YOU branch out to people around you that don’t share too many common interests?
1 comment
A lot of it’s going to be a cultural difference.
University culture encourages discussion of “deep” topics (politics, religion, etc.) that are out of bounds at the workplace except when you know someone is already established as having your back. Even then, some workplaces are weird about this, like some office environments will be packed with people who mainly talk about religion because that’s their main/only social obligation outside of work. But this means you can’t talk about that topic in the same critical and detached way that’s common in university.
The one thing literally everyone in an office workplace setting can talk about is sports. Is there a big local team everyone likes? You don’t even have to watch the game, just follow the scores on google or on your social media feed/s so you can discuss it later. Being a fan of the opposing team will however make you an outcast.