White Lies to Avoid Watercooler Drama

Okay, so this week at work has been one big snooze-fest. Monday dragged into Tuesday, which turned into a never-ending loop of Zoom meetings and emails that could have been emails the day before. And in the midst of all that, I did something pretty small but still kinda feels like a lie to me. My boss asked me if anyone wanted to switch shifts with her so she wouldn't be stuck at work late Friday evening when everyone's planning their weekend escapades. Truth is, I wasn't doing anything exciting on Friday and could have easily stayed later without any issues. But you know what? The thought of being the one person who said yes to working extra hours while everyone else was talking about their weekend plans made me feel like a total loner. So, after some quick thinking, I told my boss there were definitely a few others interested in switching and would spread the word for her. In reality, I just wanted to avoid that awkward moment where she looked at me like, 'Well? What's your plan?' Turns out, no one else was keen on it either, but they didn't have a chance to say anything before my boss closed off the conversation with a quick thanks and moved on. Sometimes, avoiding feeling left out is just as good a reason for telling a tiny white lie as any other.