by Jen Harley

Created on: September 02, 2008

Profanity in the workplace is just plain immature and unprofessional. While majority of us feel that this is common sense and conduct ourselves in an adult manner, many others simply cannot. Thankfully out of all the jobs I've had in my life, only one company had a handful of cursing coworkers. To be honest this was a company of immature individuals so it was not exactly a surprise to hear the profanity on a daily basis. What's worse was when people made excuses for this behavior rather than nipping the problem in the bud.

One coworker was the typical cranky old man with the caustic attitude who couldn't get his point across when speaking with others. He'd have a fit and throw thing while cursing if he didn't get his way or if a meeting went terribly. Many people were wary going down the hall his office was located in for fear of being caught in the middle of a temper tantrum. At one point, he was upset that I had left a mail bin for the mailroom to pick up in the lobby, in its usual pick-up spot. He picked up the box and heaved it across the lobby to my desk while cursing up a blue streak about boxes and messiness. When told about this, my boss shrugged it off and said that the box thrower was just a testy man and to tread lightly around him.

Another coworker loved to throw the dreaded F bomb in almost every sentence he used. Business calls, meetings, friendly chats, it didn't matter. Most people would just roll their eyes and brush it off. Some people mentioned the problem in one of those office "good coworker get-away" meetings and the group leader as well brushed the problem off. They claimed that there is nothing you can do at work for a person who curses without knowing it. Quite a few people had responses to that but they were all quickly shot down. Of course there is something that can be done about profanity at work. It's ridiculous that some don't want to touch this issue to make a positive change in the workplace.

The worst example of profanity in the workplace was the boss who raised his voice and cursed a blue streak at everyone and anything. He was always on the warpath and never a pleasant person to deal with. He brought personal issues to work, screamed his head off at anyone nearby, cursed like a sailor while pacing up and down the halls and then would stop by various cubicles looking for sympathy of his daily issues.

It's terrible that some offices have to put up with the profanity and attitudes that go with it. It's said that those who don't know how to speak well use profanity. I feel for those ex-coworkers who resort to using cursing to get points across. As businesspeople they should certainly know better. Keep the profanity out of the office.

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