如何對付滿嘴髒話的同事
I have a senior colleague who is good at his job, but so bad with people, I think he may be on the autistic spectrum – as well as being a borderline alcoholic with bad body odour. Recently a new computer system has been installed, which we all find frustrating but he keeps shouting a strong obscenity at the screen. I have tried politely asking him to be quiet, but he said I should go and work in a nunnery if that’s how I felt about it. I feel someone needs to talk to him about some professional boundaries, and possibly about the state of his mental health. How should I handle this?
我有一位資深同事，工作十分出色，爲人卻十分糟糕。我想他可能是個泛自閉症患者，還是個有體臭的邊緣型酗酒者。最近，公司裏安裝了新的計算機系統，我們都覺得這個系統很煩人，而他則不斷對着屏幕喊不堪入耳的髒話。我曾試過禮貌地要求他保持安靜，但他卻說，要是我想的話，完全應該去女修道院上班。我感覺需要有人跟他談談一些職場中的界限問題，甚或是他的心理健康狀況。我該如何處理這個問題？Associate, female, 28
助理，女性，28歲Lucy’s advice
露西的建議
The person who appears to be on what you loosely refer to as the “autistic spectrum” is not him, it is you.
那個你隨便就稱爲“泛自閉症患者”的人似乎不是他，而是你。I’m just trying to picture the scene. This man is sitting in front of his computer, which is stubbornly refusing to do whatever it is he wants it to do. This is an exceptionally aggravating position for anyone to be in. He is responding in a way that is both instinctive and deeply satisfying.
此時我試着重構了當時的畫面。這人坐在自己電腦前，不論他讓電腦幹什麼，電腦就是固執地不照辦。對任何人來說，這種處境都令人大爲光火。他的反應方式不但是一種本能，還能令他得到深深的釋放。When a colleague succumbs to a fit of wild, foul-mouthed computer rage, it is a cue for you to sit back and enjoy it. It is always comic in a slapstick sort of way when people lose it with inanimate objects. Such outbursts are undignified, and allow everyone else to feel agreeably superior for their better mastery either of the new system or of their temper.
當一位同事因爲電腦而陷入一種抓狂而滿嘴髒話的憤怒狀態時，對你來說，這意味着你可以往椅子上一靠，好好享受這一時刻了。一個人對毫無生命的物體失去理智，這種場景總是像鬧劇一樣滑稽。這樣大發脾氣很丟臉，它讓所有其他人都產生一種愉快的優越感，因爲他們要麼對新系統、要麼對自己的脾氣有更好的掌控。What it is not a cue is for you to pipe up and ask him to mind his language. When someone who is already incensed and swearing like a trooper gets interrupted by a young woman asking them not to, the natural thing for them to do is to pick up the computer and hurl it at her. The fact that he did not do this but merely commented that your personality might be better suited to a convent than an office, suggests his professional boundaries are in excellent repair.
同時，你絕不應該做的，是貿然與他談話，要求他注意自己的言辭。如果一個人已處於勃然大怒之中，並且嘴裏罵罵咧咧，這時一位年輕女士突然打斷他，要求他不要這麼做，他最自然的反應會是抓起電腦扔向這位女士。但事實上這人並沒有這麼做，而是僅僅說你的性格可能更適合女修道院而不是辦公室，這表明他非常成功地守住了自己的職場界限。As a result of this ugly little scene, you each think poorly of the other. This is much more of a problem for you than it is for him, as he is above you in the pecking order. He is also generally believed to be good at what he does, while it is not clear if anyone thinks you are good or not. So the first thing I suggest you do is concentrate on not offending him further.
這件不快的小事造成的後果是你們彼此留下了很差的印象。這給你造成的問題比他大，因爲他在公司的地位比你高。另外，大家都認爲他的工作很出色，而大家是否覺得你的工作表現很出色還不清楚。因此，我建議你要做的第一件事是注意不要再冒犯他了。If you insist on doing something, try to find out whether your colleagues are offended by his smell and alleged fondness for the bottle too. If so, tell your boss and let him sort it out.
如果你堅持要做點什麼，你可以試着調查一下你的同事們，對於他的體味和據你所說他對杯中之物的癖好，他們是不是也難以忍受。如果確實是這樣，把情況反映給你的老闆，讓他來解決問題。In the meantime you could try to get yourself a desk a bit further away, though a better option would be to put up with it.
同時，你也許可以爭取一張遠一點的辦公桌。不過，更好的選擇可能是“忍”。Learning to tolerate colleagues who do not appeal to you is a skill. If you plan on working with other people for the next 40 years or more, it is one better acquired sooner rather than later.
學會忍受你不喜歡的同事是一種技能。如果你在今後40年或更長時間裏打算與他人共事，這種技能你越早學會越好。Your advice
讀者的建議Hamlet, sane
你的哈姆萊特同事可不傻Your colleague had enough frame of mind to make a Hamlet reference, so I doubt he is that oblivious to reality.
從你的同事還有足夠心情發出哈姆萊特式的牢騷來看，我懷疑他對現實是否真的這麼一無所知。I work with engineers and so don’t find there to be anything frightening about what you have described. (a) Being on the autism spectrum is wildly over-diagnosed, especially by armchair psychologists, and (b) everyone shouts constantly at their computer screens. If he is being terrible to colleagues at or below him, he is not autistic or insane or alcoholic, he is just nasty.
我的同事是一些工程師，因此我沒覺得你描述的情形有什麼可怕。首先，說某人是泛自閉症患者是一種粗暴的過度診斷，尤其當診斷者是那些坐在扶手椅子上、兩耳不聞窗外事的心理學家的時候；其次，我們這裏每個人都在不斷對着電腦屏幕大吼。如果他對與他平級或級別低於他的人很糟糕，那麼他不是自閉，不是瘋了，也不是酗酒者，他不過是令人討厭而已。Anon, male
匿名，男性Grave-digger
他在爲自己掘墓It sounds like your rude colleague is digging his own grave fast, so one option would be to encourage him and accelerate the process.
聽起來好像你的粗魯同事正在飛快地爲自己挖掘墳墓。因此，對你來說，有個選擇是鼓勵他接着挖下去並且挖得再快一些。Anon, male
匿名，男性Mind your own
管好自己的事Simple. Mind your own business – it is not your role to reprimand a senior colleague. You have no idea of his circumstances and it is not your place to speculate and gossip about his mental state.
答案很簡單，管好自己的事。責備一位資深同事不是你該做的事。你根本不瞭解他的處境，你也不該揣測並私下談論他的心理狀況。Female, anon
女性，匿名Promote him
提拔他吧Promotion is the answer– he can have an office in which to store his bad body odour and shout at his screen to his heart’s content.
答案是提拔他。這樣他就能擁有自己的辦公室，一方面這可以關住他糟糕的體味，另一方面他可以隨心所欲地對着屏幕大吼。Chairman, 58
董事長，58歲No shame in it
無需爲此尷尬If this senior colleague swears at work although he has been asked to stop, and keeps doing it because he is an idiot, he should get a warning.
如果這位資深同事工作時在有人阻止的情況下還要大聲咒罵，而且他由於腦子有問題而屢教不改，警告他是應該的。But if he swears because he has anger or other issues, it is another story. Helping someone deal with mental health issues definitively requires the help of a health professional. You should raise your concerns with HR, and, if necessary, HR should advise this senior colleague to consult a health professional. There is no shame in it.
但如果他的咒罵是出於憤怒或其他問題，這就是另一回事了。幫人處理心理健康問題絕對需要健康專業人士的協助。你應該向人力資源部門反映你的憂慮。如果必要，人力資源部門應該建議這位資深同事向健康專業人士求助。你不必爲此感到尷尬。Female, anon
女性，匿名Productivity hit
重要的是工作效率There is enough evidence that this behaviour damages productivity, which is why most blue-chip companies have strict guidelines. Except if you are a trader, in which case it is considered an outlet of stress.
有足夠證據表明，這種行爲會降低工作效率，這正是爲什麼多數藍籌公司有嚴格的工作紀律，除非你是名交易員——對交易員來說，他們認爲這麼做是一種舒緩壓力的途徑。Anon
匿名
