I have a question...
...if you're at work and you notice that a guy has his fly down...do you tell him?
Last night I worked with a guy who's fly was all the way down and wide open. I was at a bit of a loss...I wasn't sure if I should say something or just let the guy walk around for the rest of the shift with his pants undone.
When confronted with an open fly, the first thing you have to do is a double-take. "Did I just see what I think I saw?" Then, you can't take your eyes off the stupid thing.
I thought that the other guy working with us would say something but he never did. A wide open fly will catch a person's eye sooner or later...wouldn't you think? But the other dude never said a word. I asked another nurse ( I knew she noticed it, you just couldn't NOT.) and she said she had decided just to let it go and not say a word.
I had a problem with that. I thought that someone should tell the poor schnook. I'd certainly want to know if I had a nipple showing.
But...how do you tell a man that you work with that his fly is open? You know he's gonna feel like a jack ass and I didn't want to make him feel too badly. But...I pictured him realizing it hours later and I thought that he might feel even worse. Then it occurred to me that I was spending a lot of time thinking about the fly of someone that I don't know.
I thought that in itself was a good enough reason to tell him...just so I could stop thinking about it. I decided to say something.
Then I had to figure out how to tell the man and I thought about that briefly before I decided that the old way was the best way...I waited until we passed each other and as we did, I said (so only he could hear me) "XYZ."
That did it.
Do you suppose I did the right thing? I know that I'm still thinking about a co-workers fly a bit too much but on the way home from work, I just couldn't help myself. I wondered over and over again what the proper etiquette is when dealing with a professional decision such as this one.
I decided that when I got home, I was just gonna ask you guys. Then I stopped thinking about the dude's fly and started writing about it. I think that all of the guys reading this should look down and check their business.
You know they can't avoid checking ladies, don't you? I just made a lot of men check their flys and that power is awesome.
Meg
...if you're at work and you notice that a guy has his fly down...do you tell him?
Last night I worked with a guy who's fly was all the way down and wide open. I was at a bit of a loss...I wasn't sure if I should say something or just let the guy walk around for the rest of the shift with his pants undone.
When confronted with an open fly, the first thing you have to do is a double-take. "Did I just see what I think I saw?" Then, you can't take your eyes off the stupid thing.
I thought that the other guy working with us would say something but he never did. A wide open fly will catch a person's eye sooner or later...wouldn't you think? But the other dude never said a word. I asked another nurse ( I knew she noticed it, you just couldn't NOT.) and she said she had decided just to let it go and not say a word.
I had a problem with that. I thought that someone should tell the poor schnook. I'd certainly want to know if I had a nipple showing.
But...how do you tell a man that you work with that his fly is open? You know he's gonna feel like a jack ass and I didn't want to make him feel too badly. But...I pictured him realizing it hours later and I thought that he might feel even worse. Then it occurred to me that I was spending a lot of time thinking about the fly of someone that I don't know.
I thought that in itself was a good enough reason to tell him...just so I could stop thinking about it. I decided to say something.
Then I had to figure out how to tell the man and I thought about that briefly before I decided that the old way was the best way...I waited until we passed each other and as we did, I said (so only he could hear me) "XYZ."
That did it.
Do you suppose I did the right thing? I know that I'm still thinking about a co-workers fly a bit too much but on the way home from work, I just couldn't help myself. I wondered over and over again what the proper etiquette is when dealing with a professional decision such as this one.
I decided that when I got home, I was just gonna ask you guys. Then I stopped thinking about the dude's fly and started writing about it. I think that all of the guys reading this should look down and check their business.
You know they can't avoid checking ladies, don't you? I just made a lot of men check their flys and that power is awesome.
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 5:45 AM
8 Comments:
I think it is hilarious Meg. The poor guy. But the whole XYZ thing was too funny. That is what we said in school to the boys when their fly was down. I guess it makes sense to do it with an adult male, it just struck me as funny.
I really don't know any other way of saying it except...hey dude, your fly is down and I can't take my eyes off of it....LOL
You my friend have so much fun at work :)
I have fun wherever I am:)
I had another question...you're right, Karin, WE did say it in school. So, "XYZ" will work on an American man with his fly down, but if it had been the other guy, who wasn't raised in this country...I wouldn't have known what letters to use. So...since I work with a lot of foreign men, I need to know how to tell THEM that THEIR fly is down!
Damn it...just when I thought that I had the entire situation under control, another bug in my plans.
Now what?
Meg
Just tell them that they're flying low. Usually works!
I would have done the same thing. I would have told the poor guy. Likewise, I'd like someone to show me the same courtesy. The worse feeling is looking in the mirror, and realizing you have some weird smear on your face...then realizing that everyone you interacted with not only BLATANTLY SAW it, but didn't even have the decency to stop you from looking like a fool in front of everyone else!
Personally, I'd want to know. In a tactful way of course.
"Flying low"! That's a new one to me...has anyone else out there ever heard that or do you think it would just be obvious to the guy?
And Cheryl, I felt exactly as you did. If he had gone home and found it on his own, he never would have known WHO saw it. With me saying what I did, he could potentially convince himself that I was the ONLY person who noticed it!
Right?
That's the way I think anywho.
:):):)
Yep- used flying low. I heartily agree with telling him/someone if anything is awry that might embarrass them, aka embarrass me if I didn't know!
just tell him he's running windows on his laptop.
Hehee, late comment, but what about the opposite? I worked as a junior admin assistant a long while ago. One evening I was leaving, and chatting to the cleaners as I left the building. Now, I'm a nice person, and I talk to everyone ... but he seemed like he wanted to keep me there a while longer. Kept just continuing the conversation. Anyway, when I turned around and left, I realised the middle two buttons of my (too small!) shirt had undone themselves. He obviously could see my bra. (And this is when I was too shy to even bare my shoulders in public.) So I would hope someone would tell me when that kind of thing happened! But that guy obviously wanted to just look, and laugh when I left.
Anyway, Happy New Year, keep up the good work, Meg! It's been a couple of weeks straight of reading your blog from the beginning, and it's been great to see you grow back into the strong person you obviously were once, and can be again!
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