A senior partner in your firm invites you to a party in his house with your other half. All things being equal, this would be hunky dory - except he doesn't know you're gay. What to do?
The seating plan is the key here. Tell him your partner is a man and ask would this throw a spanner in the works?
Precision is everything here, so put it in writing - this also allows senior partner and wife time to adjust facial expressions and prejudices.
A perfect time to get this off your chest - if your sexuality is going to block career progress, maybe you should move to a more enlightened firm. Nobody should have to live a lie.
Management agony uncle Jeremy has the answers, and like all good uncles he is level-headed, experienced and wise.
Another Bad Day At The Office? is for those of us who have to work and who are lucky enough to have jobs we mainly enjoy - but who find part of our working lives frustrating, overdemanding, unrewarding or all three.
Bullmore says the biggest problem is not the nature of work, but the nature of human nature. His major point is that most problems at work are people problems.
Let's spare a thought for the bosses. He points out that they often have bosses of their own and that they often find it hard to be a good one, because so few of them get formal training.
Like a stern but kind uncle, Jeremy is not shy about saying that often the fault lies with ourselves, not with our colleagues.
Another Bad Day is a concise collection of problems that make it into an agony column - people bitching about the number of cigarette breaks you take, the boss making a pass, someone with a serious BO problem, someone coping badly with a bereavement, somebody dipping into petty cash.
Fretful managers can slip this slim volume into their inside jacket pocket and refer to it on a visit to the coffee dock or the loo.
Bullmore has plenty of practical advice to dispense on a variety of problems that crop up daily in the in-tray.
The problem with his otherwise sound advice is that he is too quick to suggest switching jobs if a solution cannot be found.
Fine for high-flying whizz kids - but the way things are going these days, even that breed must be getting a little nervous about giving the "two fingers" to the manager who's getting on their nerves. Nevertheless, Another Bad Day is well worth picking up, especially for those of us either working or managing in the private sector.
jmulqueen@irish-times.ie
