The Office: The American version

When a co-worker asked when my next blog was going to go up, I, after succinctly pointing out that the Internet had been down since 7:30 this morning, thought for a moment. Then I answered, much to his dismay: “You”. So, Steve this one is for you.

Anyway, I don’t really want to write about Steve. He’s a self-proclaimed smart-Alec who comes in late, says he stays late (but no one really knows for sure), votes Democrat, does not go to church, and basically embodies everything that a good academic should be. Although admittedly, I’ve only seen him in sandals over Christmas break (it's that dang dress code). As he and I were shooting the breeze in between classes, I got to thinking (and talking) about the differences between co-worker interaction in Europe and in the US. And you know what, I can’t really say that I have found that many.

I have had people tell me that Americans don’t socialize as much outside of work as they do in Europe. I’ve also heard that American co-workers are less open about their lives, more competitive and secretive, and less likely to take the time to just have fun. But honestly, I can’t say that I’ve encountered any of that. Perhaps it’s the academic environment which is probably very similar across the world, or maybe Europeans and Americans don’t differ that much in this respect.

The infamous end-of-year “let’s go out and celebrate” socials, for instance, are common on both sides of the pond. Just as the “let’s go out for no reason” celebrations. Sure, in the Netherlands you may not be as likely to share a pitcher of frozen margheritas as you are here, and there really aren’t any “bruine kroegen” (brown cafes I guess) around here to go to, but the gist is still the same. Academics here still sit around and complain about their workloads, rejoice in the success (and thus departure) of some of the graduating seniors, and compare wild (and unrealistic) research plans for the break. People will share way too much personal information, and come away knowing their co-workers possibly a little more than they would have wanted to.

And who said that it was “all work and no play” in the US? That’s not where I work. Sharing banter and generally acting silly with the people on your floor is also as common here in Georgia as it was over in the Netherlands. I would venture that academics simply know how to work hard and play hard. Just yesterday, Steve took a picture of me making an extremely ridiculous and unflattering face, then photo shopped the words “Hi! I’m Dutch!” on the picture, and threatened to hang it on my door. It’s very reminiscent of that time in Holland when two much larger co-workers decided it would be fun to push me around the department while sitting in my desk chair. And I take just as much pleasure in picking on my atheist colleague by emailing all the religious forwards I get from my students as I did from buying “support our troops” paraphernalia for my pacifist co-worker in Holland. We let each other know (quite vocally sometimes) when our days are not quite proceeding according to plan, and we will voice our personal opinion about silly emails from the administration by yelling it across the hallway. In fact, I don’t know if this is an academic thing, but both in Holland and Georgia, people are all about staying in their seats and simply yelling questions out their open door. In Holland I might have yelled; “Hey, what’s the best syntax command to use for merging two datasets!?” at my neighbor, while here, Steve just called out in exasperation ”Because of those dang students texting me, I now have a $270 phone bill. Would believe that?!” and then followed up in a softer tone of voice: "It's a good thing my wife no longer gets these bills". Students sometimes stand and listen in wonder. It’s great.

I’ve always heard that having fun co-workers is maybe more important than having a fun job. I must have hit the jackpot, because I have both. Now excuse me while I go and harass Steve about why he still hasn’t bought French vanilla-flavored coffee creamer like I requested last week.