Hi there and welcome to the forum. I'm so sorry to hear that you have 4th stage cancer. I think all of us have a very different view on life's issues after receiving a life altering diagnosis of cancer. Perhaps we take on the view that anything other than cancer could never measure up to what we struggle with on a day to day basis. I'm going to throw a curve ball into this discussion by presenting a different side to what's already been said here. I'm not aware of what the issue was that your co-worker confided in with you and I'm not asking you to disclose that information. Perhaps your co-worker wasn't looking for you to resolve the issue for her, but just wanted you to hear that she is hurting. As humans, our first instinct is to jump to a solution for someone's pain and discomfort, when in fact, that is not what the person confiding in us wants us to do. In many cases, that person may just want to express what they feel and have that validated by the other person. I think her decision to report to your supervisor was her knee *** reaction to not getting the response from you that she had hoped to get. It was also not an appropriate thing for her to do. Perhaps misunderstanding on both sides contributed to the end result.

I'm sorry that the action of your co-worker has created some tension for you with your supervisor and I hope nothing comes of it for you as a result. I hope this experience doesn't cloud your view in future interactions with co-workers or in fact anyone you interact with. Perhaps another time it might be helpful to just be a good listener and ask the person if there is anything you can do to help. At that point the person may say that they just needed to get it off of their chest, or they may ask you for your opinion on a possible solution. Its' too bad your co-worker misread your intention to be helpful to her. Sometimes the best of intentions don't bring us the results we had hoped for.

Take care of yourself and let us know how this turns out for you with your supervisor. Again, I hope your supervisor realizes that you only wanted to help a co-worker in her time of need.

Lorraine     

Hi there and welcome to the forum. I'm so sorry to hear that you have 4th stage cancer. I think all of us have a very different view on life's issues after receiving a life altering diagnosis of cancer. Perhaps we take on the view that anything other than cancer could never measure up to what we struggle with on a day to day basis. I'm going to throw a curve ball into this discussion by presenting a different side to what's already been said here. I'm not aware of what the issue was that your co-worker confided in with you and I'm not asking you to disclose that information. Perhaps your co-worker wasn't looking for you to resolve the issue for her, but just wanted you to hear that she is hurting. As humans, our first instinct is to jump to a solution for someone's pain and discomfort, when in fact, that is not what the person confiding in us wants us to do. In many cases, that person may just want to express what they feel and have that validated by the other person. I think her decision to report to your supervisor was her knee *** reaction to not getting the response from you that she had hoped to get. It was also not an appropriate thing for her to do. Perhaps misunderstanding on both sides contributed to the end result.

I'm sorry that the action of your co-worker has created some tension for you with your supervisor and I hope nothing comes of it for you as a result. I hope this experience doesn't cloud your view in future interactions with co-workers or in fact anyone you interact with. Perhaps another time it might be helpful to just be a good listener and ask the person if there is anything you can do to help. At that point the person may say that they just needed to get it off of their chest, or they may ask you for your opinion on a possible solution. Its' too bad your co-worker misread your intention to be helpful to her. Sometimes the best of intentions don't bring us the results we had hoped for.

Take care of yourself and let us know how this turns out for you with your supervisor. Again, I hope your supervisor realizes that you only wanted to help a co-worker in her time of need.

Lorraine