Who doesn’t love a good bit of gossip? Architects certainly do, and for some reason, gay or not, we are happy to dish to our hearts’ content. My first boss taught me that.
No surprise then, when almost a year ago I reached out to a colleague (now friend) to get a little backstory on something I was dealing with, and he started his email with this:
“Let me get the good Tea Spilling mug.”
I knew whatever he was about to tell me was going to be good, and somehow we’ve been at it ever since. Save for vacations – unless one of us has something really juicy that has to be spilled immediately – we’ve been sharing the latest tea at the end of each week. In fact, as you’re reading this, I’ve already written and/or responded to today’s.
And yes, I know. Two gossipy queens. That’s original. However, something is to be said for having a friend in your professional circle who knows what and who you are talking about. While I usually text Bill every day, we operate in quite different spheres. Just as I’m not 100% sure what James does, I still don’t know for certain what Bill’s job is. Not that we don’t have our own gossip, but that usually involves mutual friends and acquaintances.
Versus the shitshow that is or can be architectural gossip.
Whether we are sharing dirt/gossip/dish, expressing frustration with what’s happening within our own jobs, or just wanting to bang our heads on our desks over something our respective professional organizations are doing, Outlook gets fired up and the mugs come out. And sometimes the claws, as yes, like every self-respecting gay man, we can be catty.
At some point, I really should go back and print out our emails. Just to review the course of the conversation over the last year and see what was bothering us the most. Might be a bit therapeutic to figure out what has changed. And what hasn’t. I doubt much would surprise me, but it would be interesting to see how the conversation has evolved. Or even how our tone has changed as we’ve gotten to know one another.
He did suggest we should bind these into a small collection for publication. Sort of like letters from centuries past, although names would certainly have to be changed to protect the innocent. By innocent, I mean us. I don’t want to find myself in court for defamation.
Like any good gossips, we have saved the really juicy bits for texting. God knows there are some things that don’t need to be in print! Human resources does not need to know everything. We do have some sense of discretion.
Nevertheless, that said, here we are. Another Friday. Another email. And another hot mug of tea.