corporate America: June 2008 Archives

This originally appears as a guest post at the Home Office Warrior.

In walking to the parking garage with a co-worker recently, the conversation turned to telecommuters. At some point, the mention of the “office camaraderie” and friends at the office was mentioned, and how those working from home were missing out. In my usual fashion, I made a sarcastic comment, “I’d like to think that I am more qualified and better at choosing my friends than HR. Furthermore, I’d hope that HR has the job description in mind more than my preferences on music and cigars.” We got to our respective vehicles, and went about our lives. But the conversation still stuck in my head. Where did the idea of the “office friend” come from? Why do people think it is so important?