Drawing the Line

My current job gives me opportunity to meet new people on a daily basis, but it also gives me opportunity to develop relationships with regular clients.  But apparently clients have a different idea than I do on what “develop relationships” actually means.  There are some boundaries that just shouldn’t be crossed in a professional setting.   Where do we draw the line between being friendly and relatable, and being unprofessional?  The following are just a few real examples of what clients have said to me (and if you ask my co-workers, they’ll have some similar experiences to share with you, so it’s not just me).

THINGS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE:

• “Hi, Jazmin!  How are you?  How is school going?”
• “Hello, Jazmin, you’re back!  How was your trip?”
• “Cool cup, Jazmin.” 

THINGS THAT ARE INAPPROPRIATE:

• “I saw some human shit by the church on my way here.  That’s fucked up… do you ever swear?  You can swear in front of me, we’re friends.”
• “I was just partyin’ last night, if you know what I mean.  Do you party or do any drugs or anything?”
• “When he was giving me that massage, it felt so good.  I thought I was gonna cum all over the place.” 

Here’s the thing.  If you are my friend, and you say these things to me over a couple ciders, I will be loving it.  I will die laughing.  I will answer all of your questions.  I will answer questions you didn’t even ask.  I will admit to ridiculous shenanigans.

But not at work.

If you come into the office, you are a customer and I will treat you as such.  Telling me to swear?  If I did, that would be bad customer service.  Asking me if I do drugs?  The only work appropriate answer to that is NO.  As for your orgasmic massage?  Good lord lady, there is another client in the store right now!  WTF?!

Not only is it weird for you to volunteer information like this to someone you barely know, but it’s even weirder for you to assume that I would respond in like.  And maybe I do take it too far sometimes, maybe I should loosen up on what I feel comfortable talking about at work.  But until then, I’m fine with being known as the “librarian” of our office.  Innocent is my middle name. 

Jazmin