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Crying at work: A sign of strength, weakness or just being human? [not satire?]
bbc ^ | Faarea Masud and Karen Hoggan

Posted on 07/05/2025 6:01:50 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Pictures of a weepy UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves dominated the newspaper front pages and TV news after her tearful appearance at Prime Minister's Questions earlier this week.

Anecdotally, it's not unusual to cry at work. Several people got in touch with the BBC to tell us about their experiences.

Clara, 48, from Lancaster, said she had become emotional when she was a young graduate getting a "blasting", and years later "in frustration".

"I've also cried after receiving bad news from home and left work immediately."

Emma, meanwhile, felt she had to keep her emotions under wraps because she worked in "a tough male-dominated environment" and would give herself a hard time for "showing emotion or 'weakness'."

Although some research has suggested women are more likely than men to cry, plenty of men told us they had also shed tears in front of colleagues.

...

A 38-year-old from London who works in finance said he had become emotional at work when dealing with personal issues and felt it showed "a professional dedication" to still turn up.

So is crying a strength or a weakness? Executive coach and success mentor Shereen Hoban says it's old-fashioned to think weeping at work is unacceptable.

"We've moved beyond the old-school idea that professionalism means leaving emotion at the door," she says. "In today's world, emotional intelligence is a strength, not a liability."

Career coach Georgia Blackburn says it's not unusual for people at work to be upset, so firms need to know how to handle and support staff who are feeling a bit fragile.

Ultimately, she says it will mean workers get more done.

"An employer that truly listens, shows compassion and understanding, is so much more likely to keep their staff motivated and happier in the long run," she says.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: basketcase; emotionallability; lability; nocryinginbaseball; weepy
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To: BenLurkin
From the article: Executive coach and success mentor Con artist Shereen Hoban says it's old-fashioned to think weeping at work is unacceptable. "We've moved beyond the old-school idea that professionalism means leaving emotion at the door," she says.

This delusional con artist would splutter with rage if men didn't "leave their emotion at the door" and let loose a string of deserved profanity at some incompetent sommitch, male or female, who should never have been hired in the first place.

Let's see it, Sheeren. Let's see men be allowed to show their emotions at work.

21 posted on 07/05/2025 6:59:05 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: albie

22 posted on 07/05/2025 6:59:25 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

A woman bursting into tears is the ultimate form of manipulating the men around her.

(To be clear, there are legitimate reasons to cry like grieving the loss of a loved one, etc.)


23 posted on 07/05/2025 7:00:25 AM PDT by Locomotive Breath
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To: BenLurkin

The feminization continues.


24 posted on 07/05/2025 7:02:24 AM PDT by TalBlack (Their god is government. Prepare for a religious war.https://freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=4322961%2)
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To: Locomotive Breath

Men are only allowed to cry after watching Old Yeller.


25 posted on 07/05/2025 7:03:10 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: BenLurkin

If a crossdresser starts crying at work, which side gets points?


26 posted on 07/05/2025 7:03:40 AM PDT by Bernard (Issue an annual budget. And Issue a federal government balance sheet. Let's see what we got.)
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To: T.B. Yoits

I’ve run into many of the same people.


27 posted on 07/05/2025 7:07:12 AM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: Fiji Hill

“name a song that makes you cry.”

A line,If not cry at least a good sized lump in the throat: “—-my son will wear the Green Beret…” (caught me off guard).


28 posted on 07/05/2025 7:08:28 AM PDT by TalBlack (Their god is government. Prepare for a religious war.https://freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=4322961%2)
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To: BenLurkin

“Emotional intelligence” means properly reading the room.

You may not want to cry unless everybody else is crying with you.

Lol.


29 posted on 07/05/2025 7:12:09 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: cgbg

IMO, “Emotional intelligence” means being able to control your emotions.


30 posted on 07/05/2025 7:21:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Fiji Hill

Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99f9RAvwu4

The funeral song of the end of Western Civilization.


31 posted on 07/05/2025 7:29:58 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: Locomotive Breath
A woman bursting into tears is the ultimate form of manipulating the men around her.


32 posted on 07/05/2025 7:30:12 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: BenLurkin

That is part of it for sure.

Reading the room is another critical element.

The old saying applies: “When in Rome do as the Romans do” or at a minimum don’t anger the Romans.

Every group—large or small—has its “Overton Window” of norms.

The trick is to identify those norms as quickly as possible and keep within them.

That can be easier said than done—particularly in this day and age when group customs can vary widely—often without obvious clues.

I had a great boss who explained this to me on day one:

“There are three ways to do any task...The right way, the wrong way, and our way. Do it our way and you will be fine.”


33 posted on 07/05/2025 7:31:36 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: BenLurkin

I kept myself together when bullets were flying just outside my office during an active shooter situation. I kept it together when the DPD, Fire Department, and FBI told me to clear my building and in the chaotic hours that followed. I kept it together until I got home to cry in my husband’s arms.

I earned a lot of respect for being so composed while others were freaking out.

I lost it at work when my son called me from his school to tell me there was an active shooter, people were hurt, and he was huddling in a classroom. My entire body was shaking with the need to hurt whoever was threatening my baby.

No one judged me.

As a rule, though, one does not get emotional at work. It’s unprofessional.


34 posted on 07/05/2025 7:34:49 AM PDT by TheWriterTX (🇺🇸✝️🙏🇮🇱)
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To: BenLurkin

I’d be crying too - over the Muslim takeover there.


35 posted on 07/05/2025 7:47:50 AM PDT by Rennes Templar (President Trump is back.)
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To: BenLurkin

Joan said it best on Mad Men....”there’s a place for that, your apartment.”


36 posted on 07/05/2025 7:48:01 AM PDT by ronniesgal ( so is it okay that I said that??? GO TRUMP GO!!!!)
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To: BenLurkin
"it's not unusual to cry at work. Several people got in touch with the BBC to tell us about their experiences."

Remember when Britannia ruled the waves and a fourth of the world and when Brits vowed that they never, never, never, never shall be slaves?

That was then. This is now.

37 posted on 07/05/2025 7:48:35 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Nothing inflames unrest in the delusional, and nothing inflames unrest in the evil, like TRUTH.)
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To: Bernard
If a crossdresser starts crying at work, which side gets points?

Neither. Both lose.

38 posted on 07/05/2025 7:49:21 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: BenLurkin

There are times when I would expect leaders to cry: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-58874233


39 posted on 07/05/2025 7:55:50 AM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14/12- 930am -rampage begins... 12/15/12 - 1030am - Obama team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: PghBaldy

I remember that.


40 posted on 07/05/2025 7:59:55 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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