I come to work in a mood and complain about things like disappearing lint traps.  I comment on traffic.  I mention I have family coming to visit.  Maybe if I'm very excited about it, I'll talk about an art project I'm working on.  I don't talk about my personal life, my family life or anything else.  Maybe at some job with a specific co-worker that I socialize with outside of work, but even then it'd be at lunch or off-site.  I know much of this is my own privacy issues and the way I was socialized growing up. But as far as I am concerned it's just a good social norm.  Work is work and even if it has somehow become your only social outlet, talk of personal stuff should be limited to lunch or whatever.

Why am I ranting about this?  Because NG at work just came in with a long story about how his uncle and his brother are really sick and how his brother doesn't even know him because he's severely retarded as a result of fever he had as a child and has been institutionalized his whole life. I expected the point of this to be that NG would need some time off work to go care for his family. No, in fact, he just wanted, and I'm nearly quoting here, give us a head's up in case he had to take a day or two for funeral, should anyone die.

And while I am complaining, let me say at this very moment, NG and my boss are having a very annoying conversation about NG's lost cell phone. It's been ten days.  My boss apparently has not bothered to call the cell provider and report the phone.  He was explaining to NG that NG can still check the voicemail on the phone.  Which led to a conversation in which NG said, "I don't know the password for the voicemail.  I mean, I don't put passwords on things.  Like I just use a phone or I don't."  WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

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