Finding personal space at work can be tough
My life is divided into two parts: before and after I saw my boss naked.
That's not something anyone should ever have to see -- especially on her lunch hour.
Let me explain: I'm a regular at the noon kickboxing class at my company's gym. Three times a week, I shed my pumps and PDA for an hour of jabs, hooks, and kicks. I've got my own spot in front, near the mirrors, and the instructor knows me by name. The class is a respite from the corporate chaos, and a chance to firm up my gluteus maximus instead of just sitting on it. Plus it increases my heart rate in a way that's got to be better for me than a venti vanilla latte.
So every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I look forward to this time away from my desk, my computer, and most of all, my boss.
She's a nice enough person, though a little shaky on the concept of personal space. If I'm sitting at my desk during lunch, I'm fair game for her to pop over with a suddenly urgent project, a request for more sticky notes, or a cute voice mail from her kid (replayed twice for full effect). That's one of the problems with cubicles: no doors. Can you blame me for wanting an hour to myself?
On that fateful day, I walked into the women's locker room to discover my boss changing into her workout clothes. Since she was usually hovering over my desk, my first thought was that she was a lot shorter than I'd thought. That did not distract me, however, from the unmistakable fact that she was naked. Unfazed and apparently missing the modesty gene, she greeted me cheerily, "I didn't know you took this class! Now we can work out together." "Great," I managed weakly, quickly averting my eyes.
But my concentration was shattered. I axe-kicked when I should have snap-kicked, and my flurries fell flat. Ignoring exercise class etiquette, my boss had squeezed into the space next to me up front. And she wasn't even a regular! Between clumsy right hooks, she rehashed the latest managers' meeting, followed by a play-by-play of her son's Little League game and what she was making for dinner that night. I was so miserable I could barely squat. My boss had infiltrated my work-free zone.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized my real problem with having my boss invade my fitness class was that it was one more example of my job taking over my life. I work for one of those companies that's perpetually being featured in those "Coolest Places to Work" articles. The coolness factor is apparently based on hip, stainless steel and lime green decor,
I guess that's the idea. Isn't it bad enough that I have to watch my boss slurp cereal at her desk for breakfast and scarf leftover deli sandwiches from the conference room for lunch and sometimes dinner? In addition to being work colleagues and dining companions we now have to be workout buddies, too? It's just too much to ask of any midlevel employee.
Then a few weeks went by, my boss got busier, and she cut back to one kickboxing class a week. I carefully timed my locker room arrival to avoid the peep show. To my surprise, she soon got so engrossed in the class that her fists were soon moving faster than her mouth. She even claimed her own spot in the back row.
Eventually, I was able to ignore her presence and focus on my workout again. Better still, my boss began to back off during my lunch hour. On the days she wasn't going to class, she'd look at her watch and say, "It's about time for kickboxing, isn't it? I'll wait until later to go over this presentation with you. Have fun!" My work/life balance had been restored. Somewhat. I grudgingly began to accept that my boss wasn't deliberately trying to invade my space.
Life in the land of cubicles and constant "re-orgs" can be lonely. Every few weeks we seem to move floors and change supervisors. No one gathers in the cafeteria or break rooms because they're all eating at their desks or squeezing in a workout. Can I blame my boss for seeking out a familiar face at lunch (and breakfast and dinner)? Plus, she works even longer hours than I do. Doesn't she have just as much right to a good workout as I do?
Whether I wanted her to or not, my boss got a glimpse into my life beyond my cubicle. Instead of seeing me merely as the quiet girl in the next cube, she got to witness me in action as a strong, confident kickboxing warrior. (That's how I see myself for those few hours a week, anyway.) I like to believe that because of that, my boss began to think of me not just as an employee, but as a multifaceted person with goals and dreams beyond the workplace -- like someday testing out my roundhouse kick on an unsuspecting mugger in a dark alley.
I just wish I hadn't gotten quite so much of a glimpse at her, um, personal life. In the locker room, as in life, some boundaries are a good thing.
