Close Proximity

Close proximity does not a friendship make. I’ve recently learned this. Perhaps I should have learned this sooner, or I did and simply forgot, but the open floor plan in my office has brought this to my attention.

First, it was the young lady who found employment here via my recommendation. Certainly, I thought there was enough “kinship” in this fact alone to make us friends. But for some unknown reason this “one-girl-show” has spurned my friendship. That’s fine I have enough children in my field of vision and caring.

Then there is the man I’ve sat next to for years, years; through more than one employer, through recession and lay-offs. I’ve kept his secrets. I’ve known him and his family. And yet, his lack of compassion for fellow colleagues that have elevated him in his career astounds me. His new “fatherly” attentions and mean streak are unexpected. How could I sit by you for years, and not know you?

I don’t expect my co-workers to be my best friends, but I do expect a general benevolence. I fear I must be sorely mistaken in my optimistic outlook on mankind for it seems close proximity may yield nothing more than pettiness.