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Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
A person, K, who supported our Ops team in Purchasing confided in one of us that K was undergoing chemo and was at a point where K needed to shave their head. K didn't know what to do about this because we were all onsite workers, and K didn't need the whole building to know that K was going through chemo. And the usual worries that even though Management knew about K's problem, what may happen if that became office gossip.
Ops member said, "Don't worry, just be yourself tomorrow, and if anyone asks, just say 'talk to Ops'."
Our Ops team decided to collectively shave their heads. Ops then came up with a story about Ops & K going out bowling, getting really drunk, and losing a collective bet where we had to shave our heads.
K didn't know this. People kept going into K's office asking what happened, and K just looked mildly embarrassed and said, "Talk to Ops."
Everyone in Ops made up a wilder story than the last. It became a competition. Every anecdote had some kind of praise or regard for K. K eventually walked over to Ops, and found out what we did.
By the end of the day, the following was accomplished:
- K didn't have to tell anyone anything.* Ops developed a reputation for mild insanity and a lack of regard for social consequences.* Nobody was going to cross Ops to gossip about K.* Management had a private aside with an Ops member, who made it really clear where the entire Ops team stood.* K had no issues with any private requests to management, aside from the occasional question about how Ops was doing.
K is doing just fine.