5 Topics You Should Avoid Talking About At Work

Office small talk helps the people stuck in the cubicles alongside you get through the monotony of each day. Talks of the weather, weekend plans and the latest chick flick may get old, but getting deeper in subject matter may not be the way to spice up your inner office conversations.Spending eight or more hours a day, five days a week with the people you work with allow you to develop a bond because of the consistency of time spent. You should definitely not confuse this time with quality time and consider your coworkers bonafide friends that you can vent any and everything to. As cool as you think they are, unless you were friends first, certain topics should be vague or just off limits altogether at work.The last thing you want is for someone to be able to use your own words against you, thus costing you your job.Religion: Talks of faith, especially when they’re opposing thoughts can be down right disrespectful, even if you’re the most eloquent person on the planet. You may want to make a joke about Catholic priests and little do you know, your boss is Catholic. Woops. Avoid religious talk because people place their entire belief system on their religions. Also, just because you’re not discussing your beliefs doesn’t mean that you don’t have them.Sex Life: No one you work with should know anything about what goes on in your bedroom. I believe casually talking about dating is ok, but once you dig into your sex life, you’ve crossed the line. We all know women are judged differently when speaking of their conquests and who wants to be known as the office slut?Personal Finances: No one you work with should know your personal financial business. Who knows if the dude in the cubicle next to you is getting paid more or less than you? The last thing you need in the workplace is jealousy over wages.Health Issues: Only your boss should know about your health issues in regards to having to miss work hours. You coworkers shouldn’t be well versed on your surgeries, rashes, infections or even therapy breakthroughs. You could just be giving your cohorts reasons to take your job.Politics: Personal opinions on politics is just one of those things that always riles people up and why would you want to cause that kind of ruckus in the office? Politics are always opposing opinions and having that type of intense discussion at work is only going to lead to anger towards the people you have to work with on a daily basis.Be careful with the things you choose to talk about at work. Mentioning the wrong subject matter can put you at the top of a really slippery slope and you may find yourself in the unemployment line. All for something you said.