I think my tact and grace (or lack thereof) is world renown and I had this little experience recently to confirm I haven't improved at all. It's a shame really, as I have been trying to improve.For a few weeks I was pretty intensely trying to understand the diamond earing market. I studied all the online stuff, people's ears, opinions... you name it. I'd like to think I learned quite a bit. Anyhow, I've definitely relaxed a bit since then, but just today I caught what seemed like a remarkably large pair of earings on a quite young looking woman sitting next to me at a conference. Since I my tact and grace are suspect (see above), I naturally, and exceedingly bluntly, asked her the following questions... unfortunately in the following order:
She laughed that uncomfortable laugh indicating I wasn't HR violation out of line, but I had clearly broken the social contract. Why is it ok to ask about a car or a piece of art but not something that a person is wearing? Anyhow, my exceedingly strong sense of self-denial and self-centeredness took over and I moved on to other things, but if I see her again (she works in a parallel company to mine), I know she's going to give me the crook eye. She's got to wonder what the hell is going on in my melon. If she figures it out, I hope she'll pass it along.
- Are those earings real? Because they're very pretty.
- Would you mind telling me how big they are?
- Are they about 1.5 carats total weight? Cause they look really big!
She laughed that uncomfortable laugh indicating I wasn't HR violation out of line, but I had clearly broken the social contract. Why is it ok to ask about a car or a piece of art but not something that a person is wearing? Anyhow, my exceedingly strong sense of self-denial and self-centeredness took over and I moved on to other things, but if I see her again (she works in a parallel company to mine), I know she's going to give me the crook eye. She's got to wonder what the hell is going on in my melon. If she figures it out, I hope she'll pass it along.