See, its like this
Where I work, theres a senior manager who runs the team. Now having just joined said team, ive never met the woman. I dont know her, i merely know of her (and reports are conflicting).
She went on Maternity leave 2 weeks before I arrived. And today I came into work to find a very quiet team and a lot of long faces.
She lost her baby. She found out about an hour before she was due to be induced. A very rare occurrence, but not unheard of. Apparently though, she still had to go through with the birth.
Now I am a male. I cant begin to imagine the physical or emotional trauma this woman feels, hence I cant empathise with my female colleagues, some of whom were very close to this woman, or my male colleagues who were good friends with her. So im kinda wondering.
- Do I attempt to make light of the situation, cheer people up, let them know the world goes on, etc etc, and she will be fine with her family taking care of her.
- Do I put on a "False Shroud" of emotion, and mope around like everyone else pretending its a real shame and I really feel for her, and her family, when in reality I just want to get on with my job.
I appreciate im an insensitive prick at the best of times, but somehow I feel I really have to make an effort here to prevent a group I really get along with , socially and professionally, from forming a negative opinion of me at an early stage.