OMG

So I just got done talking to a coworker of mine and he told me he's been having an email conversation with one of the customer service agents in my department.

First let me paint you a picture of this agent. This young man has been here less than a year and has some crazy/serious sense of ambition. He wears a tie every day (mind you, he works as a phone rep in a call center that allows people the freedom to wear jeans and other relaxed attire) and wears a sport jacket most days as well. He is continually submitting his latest and greatest ideas to improve the department (I'm on the committee that reviews those ideas). He often speaks of his ambitions to progress in the department. Now, none of these things are bad, per se. But, he does make himself stand out (A LOT) from the crowd.

He recently started saying things like, "When I'm CEO, I'll remember you." I want to say..."Uh...you won't be CEO. Ever. " And perhaps one of the must gutsy moves lately is that he sent an email to his supervisor's manager's manager (a senior VP) to detail some of the improvements he thinks the department could make.

But anyway...back to the email conversation.

It appears that this young agent is offended by his coworkers saying the phrase, "Oh my God!" (he isn't hearing them say this to customers on the phone, but rather in general office chit-chat.) He was wondering what to do about it, if he should tell his supervisor or another area. My coworker suggested he discuss this with Human Resources.

Now, I find this whole thing a tad curious. That phrase is pretty much just a phrase "the kids" use anymore (e.g. OMG!). Most people don't think of it as wrong when they use it. (I'm not saying it's a phrase I like to use, but occasionally it does slip out in certain situations.) In an office setting, can HR police something like that? Should they? Everybody has different beliefs. Is it possible or even reasonable to sanitize our daily language enough to appease everybody? (For example, I prefer that skinny people never talk about weight issues.) I personally don't think so, but am curious to hear what comes of this situation.