how to redirect from politics-talk at work

[lizajane]

ETA: this post does not discuss politics!!! i swear! no controversy!!
dh is very frustrated with how his boss chooses to discuss politics at work. not THAT his boss talks politics at work, but the way in which he does it.

they are on opposite party lines and while DH really enjoys hearing both points of view (has a great friend who is very different than he, but they have wonderful, intelligent and amicable discussions) his boss has started to become a little mean spirited. (btw, he and his boss are also pals at work, a very small office and both family kinda guys...) the boss is very unwilling to hear any point of view other than his own, and dh has had enough of the very "party a" emails, the very "party a" remarks and the very ugly "party b" insults. he doesn't know how to shut it down now.

i told him that he needs to just redirect. just like with toddlers!!! i suggested a quick, "well, you know i disagree. now what are we going to do about the X project? did you want me to line up the equipment to arrive next week or make the changes we considered, etc etc etc."

any other ideas?? personal experiences??

[Marisa6826]

Well, I know you won't want to hear this, but the bottom line is that he's the boss. And if it's in a work environment, his word is the final say regardless of how chummy the office group is.

Your husband can kind of jokingly say, "Well, you know Bob, never discuss politics and religion in mixed company" and then say, "so anyway, about such and such" and leave it at that. If that doesn't work, then your DH can say, "interesting perspective, Bob" and excuse himself from the conversation.

The emails can be blocked or sent to a junk folder.

It won't be much longer before this whole election thing is over, so I think your husband is just going to have to suck it up.

Sorry!

-m

[kijip]

Forget redirect, just don't engage. AT ALL. Stating his disagreement opens the door for further debate somewhat. Try:

Boss: "Politician Evil is so terrible......He wants to kill small children....blah...blah"

Your Husband: Weak smile. " I have that report for you" or "How is your dog" or " Well enough fun political discussion, I have to get to a meeting"...

Just don't acknowledge prying or partisan remarks. This worked well for me when I was out sick and did not care to share my medical history- I just said "I am doing well, would you like to meet at 10 about that project...".

[Sarah1]

Your advice sounds perfect to me. I can see why your DH is sick of it, though.

[himom]

I'm getting this at work too, with my boss getting more and more vocal as the election gets nearer and the number of political "novels" increases. He's getting very obnoxious and has begun to espouse numerous conspiracy theories, etc. as well as make snide comments about the intelligence and/or ignorance of the opposing party.

I tried to argue with him once but he won't let you walk away until you agree with him. I once spent an hour in his office and wasn't able to get any work done because he was "explaining" things to me. And ours is not a company where you can slack off for an hour.

So now my response is to provide him with a blank stare and about 15 seconds of silence, then start talking about something else. He leaves me alone now, but I have a couple of co-workers who are about as fanatical as he is, but are in the opposing party. When they get together I make myself scarce.

All that is to say that the silence works well, I highly recommend it!

Jodi