Karma Cleanser - May 28 2008

Dear Karma Cleanser:

I’ve been working at a place for a little more than a month now. I finally realized that I attended high school with one of my co-workers. This male co-worker has, on several occasions, insulted other female co-workers to tears, and he has just generally been a pill to work with due to his raging egotism.

My fellow females want me to fork over our high school yearbook, but I’ve gone a little further, and have contacted my friends who were the same year as this male co-worker to find out any embarrassing stories or awkward moments from years past. My feeling is, we all have embarrassing stories and awkward moments from high school, which was a little more than 10 years ago for us, that we should never have to revisit. Their feeling is that this guy’s a major douche and deserves to have any and all sordid details used against him.

In any case, I still feel a little icky about catering to the ol’ high school/workplace gossip mill. So my question: Am I due for some bad karma? Or is my co-worker just getting his due?

– – It’s “Heathers” 10 Years Later

What’s your damage, Heather? The universe didn’t reunite you with your former classmate so you could open up a can of yearbook beatdown on his insolent ass, but to make you reflect on how much you’ve grown up in the past decade – and feel pity for those who haven’t. Be an adult and let your company’s HR department sort out the office harassment. As Veronica says, “It’s one thing to want someone out of your life, but it’s another to serve them a wake-up cup full of liquid drainer.”

Dear Karma Cleanser:

I was having lunch at a restaurant’s patio when my cell phone beeped loudly. It was a business lunch so I should have turned the ringer off. I saw that I had received a call from a friend who I really don’t talk with much anymore. I shut my phone off and put it back in my purse.

Later, I saw that I had a new voice mail message from the friend. He was eating lunch at another restaurant and had seen me sitting on the patio nearby. When I did not pick up his call, he was offended. He says he now realizes I’m not the kind of person he should be calling anyway.

I feel bad because I have a history of blowing this person off. However, I was in a business lunch and couldn’t have answered his call anyway. I’m always the nice person who apologizes in situations like this, but this time I’m thinking of just letting it lie. Is that awful?

– – Polly Wants a Blackberry

Your friend is drama. Sounds like you knew that before, but this episode drove the point home. Maybe it’s time to change his name in your phone to “Do Not Answer.”

Been bad? karmacleanser@gmail.com.