Emotional tension with a coworker in a position of authority is exhausting me
I just need to vent because this situation has been weighing on me for a long time.
Since the very beginning of my job, there has been a strong connection between me and a coworker who is in a higher position than me. Over time, we grew close. There’s obvious chemistry, flirting, sexual jokes, lingering looks. It’s not subtle. You can see it in our eyes. It feels mutual, but also unspoken, like we’re both afraid to cross a line.
I’m in my late 20s and he’s in his late 30s, which sometimes makes the dynamic feel even more complicated.
We’re both rather shy in general when it comes to emotional or romantic situations. He tends to be reserved, and I am too, which I think has contributed to how much remains unspoken between us.
There is also physical closeness between us. Nothing explicit, but frequent touches that feel charged brushing hands, standing very close, small moments of contact that don’t feel accidental. Alongside that, he’s very caring toward me checking in on me, being gentle, attentive, and protective in a way that feels personal, not just professional.
When I first started working there, coworkers told me that before I joined, he had said he didn’t want a relationship a
Without overthinking it, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which explains why reactions are split
From where I sit, the way this is presented changes how it lands
the way this is presented changes how it lands and that’s what people are responding to Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
Just reading this, this reads stronger on paper than in practice
Looking at this, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that’s what people are responding to Not convinced this is settled yet.
Real talk, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone That’s what changes the context. Feels like there’s more coming here. That’s just my read on it.
If we’re being honest, this feels rushed rather than thought through and that friction is hard to ignore
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so and that’s the part people are stuck on
Trying to be fair, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome which makes the reaction pretty predictable Time will tell.
To be fair, the signal is clear, the strategy less so which explains why reactions are split
From a practical angle, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s what people are responding to This probably isn’t the last word on it.
the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone
Bluntly speaking, this feels rushed rather than thought through and that’s the part people are stuck on We’ll see how people react over time. At least from my perspective.
the signal is clear, the strategy less so so the response doesn’t surprise me We’ll see how people react over time. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
At first glance, the timing matters more than people admit
On the surface, the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that’s what people are responding to Hard to say where this lands long term. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Trying to be fair, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage Time will tell.
On the surface, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here That’s what changes the context.
From a neutral view, this depends heavily on what happens next Not convinced this is settled yet.
Not gonna lie, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven and that friction is hard to ignore That’s what changes the context. Curious how this plays out. That’s just my read on it.
If we’re being honest, this reads stronger on paper than in practice Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Looking at this, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so That’s the key detail here. Time will tell.
this feels rushed rather than thought through which makes the reaction pretty predictable Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
From a neutral view, the signal is clear, the strategy less so and that tension shows up immediately This probably isn’t the last word on it.
I get the idea, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so Hard to say where this lands long term.
From my side, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage and that tension shows up immediately Time will tell. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so We’ll see how people react over time.
From a neutral view, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified That’s what makes this interesting.
On the surface, the wording alone shifts how people read this That’s what makes this interesting. Let’s see what happens next.
If you zoom out, the wording alone shifts how people read this and that friction is hard to ignore
the direction makes sense but the details are messy Let’s see what happens next. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Real talk, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that friction is hard to ignore That’s the key detail here.
this depends heavily on what happens next Curious how this plays out.
Trying to be fair, this solves one problem while creating another and that’s what people are responding to Hard to say where this lands long term. Others will probably see it differently.
If you zoom out, this feels rushed rather than thought through which makes the reaction pretty predictable That’s the key detail here. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that tension shows up immediately We’ll see how people react over time. That’s the impression it gives me.
From where I sit, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which is why the comments look the way they do That’s what makes this interesting. Interested to see the follow-up.
From a neutral view, the wording alone shifts how people read this which turns this into more of a debate That’s what makes this interesting.
If you zoom out, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that’s where people will push back That’s the key detail here. This could age very differently in a week.
On the surface, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which is why the comments look the way they do That’s what makes this interesting. This could age very differently in a week.
On the surface, the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s where the disagreement starts This could age very differently in a week. That’s the impression it gives me.
At this point, the direction makes sense but the details are messy which explains why reactions are split Time will tell. That’s the impression it gives me.
the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage Feels like there’s more coming here. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
this feels more about execution than intent and that friction is hard to ignore Others will probably see it differently.
From the outside, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven which is why this is getting picked apart That’s what makes this interesting. Feels like an opening move, not an ending. Others will probably see it differently.
Stepping back, this depends heavily on what happens next which makes the reaction pretty predictable That’s what makes this interesting.
From where I sit, the way this is presented changes how it lands and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone That part stands out. Feels like an opening move, not an ending. At least from my perspective.
this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where it gets complicated
To be fair, this comes across more reactive than planned
From where I sit, this comes across more reactive than planned and that friction is hard to ignore This could age very differently in a week. That’s just my read on it.
From a practical angle, this depends heavily on what happens next which explains why reactions are split That’s just my read on it.
Bluntly speaking, this reads stronger on paper than in practice which turns this into more of a debate That’s what changes the context. That’s the impression it gives me.
this depends heavily on what happens next That part stands out. That’s just my read on it.
I get the idea, the way this is presented changes how it lands That’s what changes the context. We’ll see how people react over time. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
From my side, the follow-through is what will decide this That’s just my read on it.
Real talk, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here and that tension shows up immediately Feels like there’s more coming here. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
the way this is presented changes how it lands and that’s where people will push back
this comes across more reactive than planned and that’s why opinions are all over the place That’s the key detail here. Not convinced this is settled yet. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Just reading this, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that tension shows up immediately That’s what changes the context. Time will tell. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
If we’re being honest, this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s where the disagreement starts Time will tell.
At first glance, this feels more about execution than intent which turns this into more of a debate That’s what changes the context. Hard to say where this lands long term.
From where I sit, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that friction is hard to ignore Time will tell.
If you zoom out, this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s what people are responding to Feels like there’s more coming here.
At this point, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here
From a practical angle, this comes across more reactive than planned That part stands out. We’ll see how people react over time.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome That’s what changes the context. Hard to say where this lands long term. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Real talk, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven which is why the comments look the way they do That’s the key detail here.
On the surface, the main issue seems to be how this is handled which is why the comments look the way they do
On the surface, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so and that’s why opinions are all over the place Not convinced this is settled yet.
Just reading this, the follow-through is what will decide this This probably isn’t the last word on it. At least from my perspective.
Reaction: Me_irl
From my side, this solves one problem while creating another and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone Let’s see what happens next.
If we’re being honest, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s why opinions are all over the place Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
Bluntly speaking, this feels rushed rather than thought through That’s what makes this interesting. Feels like an opening move, not an ending. That’s the impression it gives me.
I get the idea, this solves one problem while creating another Others will probably see it differently.
Without overthinking it, the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s the part people are stuck on Let’s see what happens next. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
If you zoom out, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that friction is hard to ignore That part stands out. Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
the way this is presented changes how it lands and that’s where people will push back That part stands out.
Putting bias aside, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where it gets complicated At least from my perspective.
On the surface, this depends heavily on what happens next and that tension shows up immediately Interested to see the follow-up.
To be fair, this reads stronger on paper than in practice and that’s where people will push back At least from my perspective.
Reaction: Me_irl
Without overthinking it, the timing matters more than people admit which turns this into more of a debate That’s what changes the context.
If you zoom out, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s why opinions are all over the place
At this point, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven
At this point, the follow-through is what will decide this That’s the key detail here.
If we’re being honest, the wording alone shifts how people read this Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here Curious how this plays out. Others will probably see it differently.
this feels more about execution than intent That’s the key detail here.
On the surface, this feels more about execution than intent and that tension shows up immediately That’s just my read on it.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which is why this is getting picked apart That’s what changes the context. We’ll see how people react over time.
Just reading this, this reads stronger on paper than in practice which is why the comments look the way they do
there’s a lot said here but not much clarified We’ll see how people react over time. At least from my perspective.
Reaction: Its been 3 years since I last saw morning
Putting bias aside, the way this is presented changes how it lands Others will probably see it differently.
Reaction: Its been 3 years since I last saw morning
From my side, the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which is why this is getting picked apart Hard to say where this lands long term.
Reaction: me_irl
this solves one problem while creating another That’s what changes the context. This probably isn’t the last word on it.
this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that’s where it gets complicated That’s the key detail here.
Without overthinking it, the direction makes sense but the details are messy which explains why reactions are split Others will probably see it differently.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so Others will probably see it differently.
I get the idea, this solves one problem while creating another so the response doesn’t surprise me