Issue Date: 5/11/09
Ask Aunt Gertrude
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I just started a job at a software firm and share an office with a woman in her 50s. She is very nice and very helpful but she has a daughter in Florida who is having marital troubles.
They talk often on the phone, and it is hard not to overhear the conversation.
Now mind you, I am no prude. But I really don't want to hear about her daughter's husband's sexual shortcomings in details that would make a truck driver blush, or hear a 50-year-old woman instruct her daughter on ways she can achieve an orgasm without her husband.
Frankly, it's just creepy! When she is done with these conversations she just goes back to work as if nothing has happened. Am I overreacting?
In Cubicle Hell
Dear In Hell:
I don't think you are overreacting. Just for personal reference, people over 50 do have sex. But most of us have the good taste not to flaunt it in public. This is monstrously inappropriate in any work setting. Were I you, I would tell her that it is a very small office and her conversations containing sexual advice are making you uncomfortable. Tell her you would appreciate it if she could have them at home or when you are not in the office. If that doesn't work go to your superior. California has very strong workplace sexual harassment laws, which this case falls squarely in. Believe me, the problem will be resolved.
To all of you who wrote to Aunt Gertrude this semester, I would like to thank you. I hope you have a great summer - and if you should have any problems, Aunt Gertrude will be back in the fall.
P.S. To the young man with the sores: I read your letter, and you need a doctor, not an advice column!
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