The Cube Rat

A friend of mine who works at a company in New York City recently told me of a story about an office discussion that turned into a disaster. She said she found herself being a “cube rat” - a term dubbed in her company for a person who is unable to keep a secret, well, a secret.

Luckily, I am surrounded by great individuals who take personal information in and never release it to others, but it did spark an interest to know whether this has happened to anyone before? I’m sure it has.

Secrets and lies. When it comes to both there can be no better person to talk to then an office friend. Sometimes these discussions circulate around a coffee machine, others around a water cooler, and some from above cubical walls. Most light topics can lead to deeper more in-depth information into a personal life. Usually people feel you can trust the individuals with your information…until it happens. The information you just released comes flying back at you through an email, phone call or the occasional surprise visit from a co-worker. That’s when you know you have just been crapped on by…the cube rat. I recently spoke to a friend of mine at a different organization who was

Ahh…the cube rat. Every office has one (maybe more), and every person finds out who it is the hard way. I have always asked myself, why do people feel the need to spread your information? Maybe because they have nothing better to say about their own life?

Here are some tips to stop this from happening to you:

1: You could become a recluse. Do not speak to anyone. Do your work and go home.

2: If number one sounds boring, then you could test the waters a bit. Talk to everyone and tell them  something different. The topic that returns is the rat.

3: Become a rat to get back at the rat….nah…never mind. That doesn’t sound like an option.

4: Don’t care…keep things to yourself and only provide the most basic information.

Yup…go with number four. Skip all the others.