Feeling uncomfortable at work

[woodsprite]

I've talked before about the freeper gun nuts that I have to share a set of cubicles with at work, so there is no privacy and you can overhear EVERYTHING. These guys aren't the quickest on the draw when it comes to helping contrary or demanding users. Matter of fact, they try to put it off as long as they can. One of them was talking to someone on the phone about a help request and he made the comment that he'd "fix the problem by putting a bullet in her head".

For the record, I have been acquainted with this person as a coworker for quite a few years and I think he was just spouting off steam. But the ass should not have made such a comment. "Think" before you open your mouth. I'm sure he would not like it if someone got ticked at one of his sons and made the same comment.

What would you do? Would you ignore that comment or report it to someone? I felt very uncomfortable with it being said, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who heard him say it.

Edited to add: I thought this was particularly callous since one of our coworkers committed suicide this past week.

[rbnyc]

1. In a similar situation, I reported it.

I've actually been in the situation twice. Once a volunteer made a remark about coming in and shoooting someone. I'm 99.9% sure she was joking, but the joke itself shows very poor judgement. She was asked not to return. In another case, it was a co-worker. He was spoken to. He has refrained from making similar remarks.

If I were you, I would report it.

But let me ask, what's your relationship like with your direct supervisor?

[DaveJ]

2. Report it

You don't want to be in a situation where any of them go on a shooting rampage and you never reported this in advance.

I would hope he would be addressed by a rational supervisor, about what is and isn't appropriate to say, and that he would not immediately get fired, unless he continued doing it. But, since he's a freeper, it's likely he's said/done other things in the past, and that this might put him over the edge and result in justified firing.

Your employer is fortunate to have good employees like you to pick up the slack.

[woodsprite]

3. He (and the others in his group) have said things in the past also.

We're at a school, and when the shootings happened at VirginiaTech, for the following week they discussed what type of ammo would do what damage to humans, animals, etc. I told their supervisor then that if I ever knew for a fact that they were swapping guns, sights, ammo, etc. in the parking lot, I would call the actual police, not not our security detail.

I did report this incident to their supervisor this afternoon. I suggested that if he doesn't know how to handle it, that he can go to his boss and request some training from HR.

Thanks for the feedback.

[DaveJ]

4. That's a great approach

Not every manager is comfortable talking to people about sensitive personality issues. Good luck!