I don't fit in because being around people makes me incredibly nervous, anxious and eventually I am so scared to go to work I often sabotage my job. I've gotten better, but my ideal work situation is in front of my computer and never having to see anyone face to face. I'm professional and intelligent. However, put me in front of others I don't know really well and I have been mistaken as being mentally handicapped. Physically I'm labeled ugly and I accept it, it is what it is. When I have a job, I always have people double look at me and they have the same look of disgust. People have no problem telling me what they think. In all honesty, the majority of previous co-workers just endure working with me, while others have been blatant with their view of me. I've also had incredibly wonderful experiences. But when it comes down to it, I'd rather just work from home, proofing and editing and not offending people and not being offended.

Sent by Melinda | 2:43 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I work for a large corporation and it is specifically against company policy to forward any emails. It is preached that as much as you think you do, you do NOT know how someone will react to your email. We have had lawsuits and the company wants to protect itself from another. I agree 100% with this policy but even I find it sometimes hard to delete a funny email without forwarding it.

Sent by Casandra in Portland, OR | 3:18 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I am a 26 year old female, at my first job with eyes WIDE OPEN now.

I'm a graphic designer for an advertising firm that deals MAINLY with casino's in Las Vegas.... I guess I should have expected it but BOY was I surprised when I came in my first day.

NUDE CALENDARS, AWFUL LANGUAGE, DESCRIPTIVE SEX STORIES OF OUT OF WORK EXPERIENCES AND TO TOP IT OFF..... MAJORITY OF MY JOB ENTAILS PHOTOSHOP WORK ON LARGE BREASTED WOMEN.

needless to say, i'm searching for a new job....

Sent by Linda | 3:27 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I am a woman in the construction industry. Thankfully, things are much better now than they used to be say 10 or 15 years ago, and as more and more Gen-x and below people get into the business, I expect to finally see parity. I couldn't even to begin to describe some of the harassment I have seen in the past - from stalking to being thrown across my car to having my boots peed on.

Sent by Laurel | 3:28 PM ET | 01-29-2008

Many companies use vendors, contract employees or freelancers in addition to company employees. Are these contratc or freelance employees afforded the same legal protections of actual company employees?

Sent by John Smith | 3:29 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I work for a govt agency in Alaska and though there are strict prohibitions against sexual jokes and swearing, they are pervasive in the workplace. The boss is as "bad" as anyone else about this. Alaska is much more relaxed then other places in this regard, and I find myself having problems swearing or making crude comments when I attend a meeting somewhere else after 20 years in Alaska. The Alaska male is definetely not "sensistive".

Sent by Bob | 3:30 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I was wondering if you could give me some guidance on how easy it is to adpot my workplace culture to fit me. I'm a 25 year old female working at a large government organization where the average age must surely be over 50. I know that there must be other young people working for my company, but I feel so isolated and I don't know how to find them. Do I simply out wait the near weekly retirements or give up and look elsewhere?

Sent by Erin | 3:36 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I work in Human Resources (employee relations and recruiting) and have run into bad bosses and worse. There was the boss who had paddles and bats hanging on her wall; another admitted to being a pathalogical liar. The most embarassing boss was the HR Manager who gossiped with her staff and goodness knows who else about what employees told her in their "private" meetings. I could only work for her for 6 months.

Sent by Jennifer | 3:37 PM ET | 01-29-2008

Clearly the lady commentator knows no alcoholics. An alcoholic CANNOT simply go to a bar and "not drink". It was incredibly insensitive and indeed ignorant of the employer to insist on this policy.

Sent by Dan Wilmes | 3:39 PM ET | 01-29-2008

As long as the rules of conduct are clearly spelled out before one even applies for a job, I have no problem. But it does concern me when someone applies for certain jobs where its obvious to them that they wont fit in, and then they complain once hired. If someone applies for a job and has tattoos or earrings and the company doesn't allow these then don't be surprised if you are told to remove them. If a person is of a rigid religion where certain things are forbidden, one probably shouldn't apply for a job in a business where these are allowed or even required.

Sent by MotherLodeBeth | 3:40 PM ET | 01-29-2008

Just a quick comment about your guest who asserted a good manager adjusts his/her style to their employee. A good manager sets the tone in an office environment. Here in CA, a workplace which seems to condone foul language or language with sexual content, that is considered offensive to any reasonable person in the office or work place, puts not only the company but him/herself at risk for a lawsuit.

Sent by Priscilla | 3:47 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I am a high school media teacher. I am female and my classes are male dominated. I struggle with inappropriate behavior from my male students who consume YouTube and American Dad, etc....so their ability to know what is right and wrong is weak. I bear the brunt of it though it sometimes makes for interesting class lessons. Last week when I had a substitute a boy brought in a sex toy! They just don't get it--and because they are in essence my "clients" it makes my profession difficult!
Ms. C

Sent by J Clements | 3:50 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I am very fortunate to work in an extremely laid back work environment. We pretty much have an unwritten rule in our team to keep it "PG-13", but we also try to keep it very light as much as possible. This is a fast growing company and we seem to have to change the way we do things all the time...because of this, it's hard to be rigid and take things too seriously. People who come in here from a rigid, organized workplace have a lot of trouble not only fitting in, but getting used to things around here no matter how many times we tell them "just go with the flow". The ones who learn this end up loving this place and even admit later on that they were skepticle. We don't pass around adult material, we don't swear like sailors, we don't try to convert non-believers...but we believe having a good sense of humor and an open mind are key to a fast paced, high pressure workplace (it's even in some of our posted job descriptions). Few of us run nuclear reactors or do brain surgery and what we do is just a job that has to be done, so why not enjoy it. So many of us forget that most of us are around our co-workers as much as our family or friends.

Sent by Michael Suko | 4:07 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I work at a company that supports the United Way. Personally, I do not agree with the way that the United Way tries to set policy for Non-Profits, takes a percentage of donations for their operating budget, or limits their fundraising calendars.

I personally participate in many national and local non-profit organizations by volunteering and donating money. I was finding that I was getting a new birrage of pressure-filled messages each time the United Way fundraising season came around.

Each time I would find myself responding to the person and listing the littany of reasons why I do not want to support the United Way. I also suggested that if the company really wants to have 100% participation, that they pay the percentage outright and save us all the pain. However, each year it was a new manager, building leader, etc I was trying to educate.

Finally I decided I would make a rule in my outlook email program that messages with "united way" in the body go straight to the delete folder! I have been much happier since then and only one or two errant messages have made their way to the trash!!

Sent by sandy | 4:11 PM ET | 01-29-2008

I felt your guests were a bit dismissive of the concern about being forced to go to Happy Hour. The woman casually says "you can have a coke". For a recovering alcoholic, this may not be a comfortable location. I resent the fact that drinking (not just going to bars or parties) is still required to be part of the "good old boy" network in most high-tech firms.

Sent by Joy Trenton | 4:18 PM ET | 01-29-2008

Talk about prejudice. I heard the interviewee refer to those who don't like sexual innuendo talk as "a church mouse."
And Neal didn't raise an objection!

Sent by Dr. J. Curtis Kovacs | 4:22 PM ET | 01-29-2008

Mona in Riverside, CA:

I am an out lesbian who was told repeatedly to "keep my personal life to myself" at work. This included discussing vacations, holidays, weekend activities, etc because my partner would be, naturally, involved in those things. I also received frequent lectures from co-workers about how I needed to "find the lord" and so forth.

I eventually filed a lawsuit over this, but was told by the decision makers that just because the people at my company were jerks, that didn't make their behavior illegal. I finally quit after 5 years.

Sent by Mona | 1:15 AM ET | 01-30-2008

I sometimes wonder how far out of the real world are jounalists, and those they chose to feature. Real people doing real jobs do not have the time to engage in the behavior they focussed on. It also appears that some of those whom have posted comments spend a significant amoutn of work time on personal matters. I have had co-workers for years whom I do not know their political affiliation, sexual orientation, anything about their significant others, marriage status, having children, or not having children, religion, nationality, racial make up, non visible tatoos, or peircings or even where they live. We do not have time, or interest in knowing these things about each other. We have work to do, important work that we value, and we focus on how to do it, how to do it better, and, if we are grumpy, why there is so much of it, especeally the volume of paperwork which does not directly effect outcomes, but is required by management to facilitate monitoring, which they seldome have time to do, as they are busier than those they supervise.

Sent by Jim | 12:12 PM ET | 01-30-2008