Dear Cary:
I have been following your column for years. I hope you can help me -- I need concrete advice, almost like a to-do list on what to do next. I have ruined a wonderful friendship, and I want to repair it.
I am an attorney. My workspace, and all others who are similarly situated, is a cubicle, so there is no privacy. I really like one of my co-workers. He is close friends with our boss and is one of the most respected attorneys here. I wanted to have a physical relationship with him. He said that he found me attractive but did not want a physical relationship for a number of reasons. He repeatedly said that women are crazy. He has absolutely no patience for "out of control." We managed to develop a fairly close friendship. I started to get too deep. Yesterday I left him a voicemail message saying that I needed to dial back, that he would meet the woman he has been looking for, maybe even this weekend, and that I didn't want to be in a position of missing my friend when he started spending all his time with that woman, so I was dialing back. He got upset. He said that we were never dating, that the message was the type of message one would get from a girlfriend. I thought I was being honest and self-protective. But instead I revealed myself as being in too deep and like another one of the crazy women in his life (his term, crazy women). I called him on the telephone as we drove to our homes. He said that it was a crazy message. My voice rose. I asked how it was crazy. He said, "Well, you're the one who left it." I truly value our friendship. I feel as though I have lost all dignity and revealed my worst (to him), most emotional side. I need concrete and specific advice on what to do. How do I repair the friendship?
Please do not reveal my name.
Emotional Attorney
Dear Emotional Attorney,
Here is some clear, practical advice. Stick your head in his cubicle at your very next opportunity and say, "About that phone message. Just wanted to say. Sorry. I was a little wound up."
Then he will probably say, "No problem. Don't give it a second thought." Or, "That's OK."
After he says that, be very careful. You are on your way out now. You are already done. Do not open up another line of argument.
He might say one or two more things. But you are already done. You've delivered the message. No matter what else he says, just say something like "Thanks. Just wanted you to know." Or, "No problem," and get out of there.
The next thing is the exit. Make your exit swift but not sudden. Make it even. Don't rush out, but don't linger. Try to get a rhythm into it, like, in terms of beats, it's: One, pop your head in; Two, deliver your message; Three, acknowledge whatever he says; Four, turn lightly, in rhythm with your shrug, or your acknowledgment, and walk away with a light, relaxed step.Then settle into your cubicle and start reading a brief. Visualize a soundproof plexiglass wall between you, reaching up to the ceiling. He is not there. You are alone in your cubicle.
This should reassure him. The matter will promptly leave his mind.
Of course, the fact that it will promptly leave his mind is part of the problem. There is a huge issue remaining. It is an issue that, if you talk about it with him, will not settle things but make them more complicated. It would probably be a losing argument. At the same time, it would be intellectually dishonest not to mention it. Feminist advances in pay and freedom were won in hard-fought battles house by house, bed by bed and cubicle by cubicle. So while you may want to keep this huge issue out of the air for professional workplace reasons, let's just state it for the record: He thinks women who express their emotions are crazy. He's friends with the boss. So your long-term prospects for professional advancement may well be in the hands of men who think women who express their emotions are crazy.
Maybe you can change their minds. Or maybe you can find another law firm. There are lots of law firms.
'Nuff said, OK?
As far as maintaining your friendship with him over the coming months, do indeed "dial it back." But telling him you're dialing it back does not dial it back. It ramps it up. That's what happened with that phone call. It's one of those paradoxes. The way you actually dial it back is by changing the way you act around him. Visualize detachment. Look at him as though he were far away and tiny, like at the wrong end of a telescope. Speak with him in a controlled and deliberate way. Don't share your feelings. Don't ask about his romantic life. Keep your friendship professional.
And one more thing: Don't call him on the phone from your car. If you find yourself having erotic thoughts about him, transfer them to someone else outside the office -- a waiter, or a judge, or an attorney on the other coast you met at a conference.
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