In January 2018 a reader wrote to Alison Green’s advice column Ask a Manager. “I’m an intensely private person,” the reader said. “My immediate supervisor once asked me point blank what my family member’s diagnosis was.” Coworkers had also felt slighted that the reader did not share more.
Green defended the reader’s privacy. “Workplaces aren’t families,” she wrote. “You definitely don’t need to do it with colleagues.” She also warned that “it can get weird and uncomfortable when everyone else in your office is a sharer and you’re not.” She offered a friendly line to use instead: “It’s a nice break to just be able to focus on work when I’m here!”