On mixing ‘business with pleasure’
In my “past life” I worked at a particular company and there was a lady who seemed to hate my guts. She would snarl at me or give me a scary cold stare that terrified me. I was confused because as far as I was concerned, we had never had any nasty encounter. I concluded that maybe she had “natural hate” towards me and was one of those women who have “issues” so I just ignored her. I would later find out from the grapevine, that she was actually having an affair with a gentleman I worked closely with and felt threatened and insecure. How amusing! I had quite a chuckle because dude wasn’t even a type Ke fa ke ipotsa gore fa a ntebile jaana nka ratana le monna yo ditatswa nna. Hehe. Apparently, some colleagues and business partners chow each other left, right and centre. Not too long ago, there was a story about a certain high-profile man who had lost his wife to a pastor at church. I bet the two started off claiming to be working together and having “meetings.” Unbeknown to the poor man, the two were having “meetings” between their legs. Shem, some things are painful. I guess it is easier for some people who are having affairs to hide behind work when they are in face exploring each other’s anatomy and exchanging bodily fluids. Batho ba bangwe o kgona go bona hela gore ba bone ba itsane gosele. The issue on whether office romance and sexual liaisons for example, are professional, has been discussed time and again. Some people don’t mind while others find it unprofessional. It also depends on individual values. I prefer to keep my private life off limits. I go to work to work and try to uphold professionalism. I have never been a fan of mixing work and business with pleasure and have never entertained ideas of dating colleagues or business associates – I try to treat them as ‘brothers’ and ‘uncles.’ But there are many people who are dating or sleeping with colleagues, bosses and business associates and they seem to be having the time of their lives. But the issues that come with work related flings tend to be problematic. What happens if relations soar in the middle of a business deal? And if there is a tiff, how do you face each other when you are supposed to be working together? This is one reason that most companies have a no-office-romance policy. They know that many problems crop up when workplace colleagues start banging each other. Flings and what-nots are great when everything is good but not when things go down south. I bet Bill Clinton still regrets getting down and dirty with Monica Lewinsky. It was probably nice at the time but he paid a high price as the incident tarnished his reputation and overshadowed all his accomplishments. Think about it, when you hear his name you just conjure images of chubby tubby Monica on all fours doing “naughty things” to her boss. But nature will always take its course with some people. Human beings will often be attracted to each other, one way or the other, especially when they spend time together. The problem is falling into the trap of being controlled by feelings and lust. Tota hela fa o le motho o kgatlhegang kgatlhegang motlhofo o ka fela. Kamoso o le mme o tla bo bona yo mongwe a sa paka sentle nnetu e ipadile o tswa pelo, kgantelenyana o leba marago a basadi o tlelwa ke dikakanyo. The problem of being a “hot-blooded human being”. Hehe!