I can empathize with Mary Schmich (“Phone privacy? Your co-workers are all ears,” Metro, June 12). I was a contract worker in Ashland, Wis., on a temporary contract. Since the motel I stayed at did not have room phones, I asked that any follow-up calls for permanent employment be made to the workplace. I also asked them to find creative explanations for the nature of the call since this company had a strict policy on personal phone calls.
Needless to say, this being my first “cube farm” environment, I tried to speak softly and speak cryptically. It always appeared that neither method worked because the party on the other end could neither hear nor understand what I was trying to say. And, yes, it is frustrating to hear someone go over details on the phone, then have him come and relate all the details to you as soon as he finishes. The best one can do is empathize and listen as if it were all new.
As for the code of honor, how long before that is dishonored? No doubt some corporate exec will get the notion of planting “moles” in the office precisely to hear phone conversations emanating from the cube farm.
