Not to be mentioned at work

There are a lot of things we should be careful not to speak about at work. I think stock gain is among one of them. Come to think of it, it should be a definite No-No. I am glad I have not made that mistake yet because it dawned on me before I was even going to share with my husband.

What is the BIG DEAL, you would ask. Well, here is what I think and could see it happening:

1. If it is review time at work, the fact that you made some stock gain earlier in the year will give your boss and other people an excuse to say you were not such a dedicated engineer afterall because you were using company time to research, trade and involve in some sort of stock related activities during work hours since the market opens from 6am-1pm, with most of the activities starting around 9:30am till the market closes.

2. If it is around bonus or reward giving time, your inarguably unrelated stock gain will make the person making the decision of how much to give an excuse to give you less since you already have that extra income on the side. Others in the group probably can use that money more than you do.

3. Stock gain - that would become the keyword about you. Everytime people talk about you, they will bring out the fact that you made how much stock gain earlier. Possibly in an evious and sometime even jealous tone of voice.

4. Reason to treat everyone. The fact that you made some stock gain, despite how much loss you are trying to cover with that gain, people would expect you to treat them since this is so called Free Money. You are supposed to share this gain and not the risks. If you don't share, Stingy will become the key word about you.

5. In times of layoffs, just because you once made some stock gains, laying you off is like laying half a person off since half the time is on trading stocks and not working. You are being viewed as capable of working full time at home to justify and rationalize their guilt of laying you off.

So trust me on this one. Don't ever mention about your stock gain, ever, to anyone at work.


おもしろい単語
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割り勘
わりかん
Warikan
Splitting the cost; Dutch treat

*Literally "Split the bill"