After garnering myself a somewhat frenetic fan, I decided to bury my head in my work and not think about things til it all went away. Step one, get to know interesting people in the department and try to start some collaborative ventures with them.
My first meeting, with my co-worker and a permanent member of staff who heads up a related, but different, group in the department did not get off to a good start. After being ignored for about twenty minutes as the two men talked, the senior academic turned to me and inquired whether I was planning to get pregnant in the next few months !!!! My jaw literally dropped and I looked to my colleague to see his eyes popping too. Such questions are not only inappropriate but illegal as hell.
Later on we heard that said academic is known for having liaisons with his PhD students....Hmm no surprises there then.
Meanwhile back in stalkerville things were hotting up. So hot in fact that there was meltdown. Not mine, I hasten to add - mr beamline scientist. Not only were the texts flowing fast and frequent with questions about why we had "broken up" but also he started having a mental breakdown with what seemed to be serious depression, and was constantly phoning at 3 am threatening to off himself. So it came as no surprise to hear he was taking time of work. I made sure to emphasize the need for medication and therapy and started to look into changing my number...
My first meeting, with my co-worker and a permanent member of staff who heads up a related, but different, group in the department did not get off to a good start. After being ignored for about twenty minutes as the two men talked, the senior academic turned to me and inquired whether I was planning to get pregnant in the next few months !!!! My jaw literally dropped and I looked to my colleague to see his eyes popping too. Such questions are not only inappropriate but illegal as hell.
Later on we heard that said academic is known for having liaisons with his PhD students....Hmm no surprises there then.
Meanwhile back in stalkerville things were hotting up. So hot in fact that there was meltdown. Not mine, I hasten to add - mr beamline scientist. Not only were the texts flowing fast and frequent with questions about why we had "broken up" but also he started having a mental breakdown with what seemed to be serious depression, and was constantly phoning at 3 am threatening to off himself. So it came as no surprise to hear he was taking time of work. I made sure to emphasize the need for medication and therapy and started to look into changing my number...
