Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Bizarre co-worker

I have this co-worker - well, I wouldn't call him that, but he works for the same company as me and is on the same floor, but I have never spoken to him, don't know his name, or what he does.

What I do know, is the man is seriously socially inept. The floor is maybe 5-10% women, not really sure exactly. I've occasionally passed this man in the hall and each time, he is very obviously completely pretending I don't exist. Now, it's more than that, I don't really care if he thinks I exist or not, but it's that if he turns a corner and sees me, he almost involuntarily looks up at where the wall meets the ceiling and continues to stare at it as he walks by. If I turn a corner and surprise him, the same thing happens. I can always see that he is walking normally (staring at the floor a few feet in front of him), but when I come into sight, it's eyes up to the ceiling. It's comical.

I guess I can just thank FSM that he doesn't automatically stare at my boobs.

The weird thing is, there was a company lunch the other day, and dude comes in and sits a few people down from my table while I was getting food, and I heard him say to the people around him, "Hi guys, I don't know you guys, how's it going?" And I was like, WHAT? So he IS a social animal, and it's just me? Or what?

I guess if he worked in the same group as me or near me, or I had to liaise with him sometime as a part of work, this would annoy me more, but as it stands now, I just find it a bit pathetically amusing. Poor little man.

7 comments:

Alyssa said...

Wow - don't you just love people like that? There were a number of people like this in my old department - both male and female alike.

Perhaps he's just so taken by your hotness that he cannot bring himself to look? :D

PhysioProf said...

Maybe he's painfully shy and awkward around women? I've certainly known dudes like that.

Nicky said...

Um, he has a crush on you.

PhizzleDizzle said...

I'd bet on CPP's conclusion...Nicky, I have literally only ever passed him in the hall like 3 or 4 times, that's it. This happened even the very first time I saw him.

I think he's just got to be totally shy and socially inept.

microbiologist xx said...

That is odd. I had a co-worker like that at my last place. I know people are shy, but it doesn't kill anyone to be polite and acknowledge another persons presence. Even a nod will do.
My southern upbringing makes it difficult for me to pretend someone isn't there when they are. Eventually I decided to just start saying hey to the person whenever I came across them. At first they seemed a little freaked out, but after a while they came around.

Hermitage said...

I do the same thing in hallways because I invariably see the same person 5x a day and I don't feel like acknowledging their existence every time. People like us are just weird that way, not necessarily sexist or anything.

PhizzleDizzle said...

MXX, you may have a point. Maybe I can make him acknowledge me by just introducing myself and saying hello ever after?

Hermie, I've run into him 5 or 6 times in 8 months, so I don't think it's a saturation issue.