But, you know, public school. C'est la vie. I reserve the right to be bitter, however.

You're doing a good thing. A more noble profession than improving business reporting capability.

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Bills have been paid, now I must leave my cozy little Linux desktop and remotely connect to my work computer to do more work.

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Okay, part of the answer is that the "select a disease that you don't have" example from that article is, well, incomplete. Esponda's paper is here. A key thing that the article left out is that for this to work, at least one of the choices has to apply. Here's an example he uses.

I do not earn

• Less than $30,000 per year
• $30-60,000 per year
• Over $60,000 per year.

Er, and then there's a lot of math. But what I'm getting is that, as the respondent, I have two answers to chose from because of the negative phrasing. If I select "over $60k," I'm not telling you exactly which group I belong to, but I'm eliminating one option, which gives you some information. And I'm more likely to answer honestly because, hey, I'm not telling you much. Especially if I take out the middle choice.

I doubt you'd use this technique with a question like salary ranges, but it does get the idea across. So the "select a disease you don't have" only works if you already know that the respondents have at least one disease. But... okay, say it's a survey of teenagers. You ask them to eliminate one of these options:

• I've never had sex
• I've only had sex with one partner
• I've had sex with more than one partner

That's one where, if they had to pick the one that did apply, you can see where kids might lie even on an anonymous survey. So it might be worth get vaguer answers if it increases the accuracy.

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How would the sage and cunning Buffistas handle a situation with a co-worker, a superior actually, who doesn't quite go to the sexual harrassment place, but is definitely venturing into the category of somene who makes me totally uncomfortable?

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Have to be a bit more specific.

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Admiring? Joking? Comments that are just over the appropriate line?

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Definite admiring. Comments that could be innocent, but clearly aren't... defininte sleezy intonation in some of what the perv says. Also, he has a habbit (and he's a bit of a hobbit, so a hobbit habbit) of getting just a bit to close when a face to face interaction is unavoidable. I back up, he encroaches. Repeat.

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Still not quite enough to context to make good suggestions.

One key when someone is doing something sleazy.

A) Ask them to stop.

B) Keep a record of asking them to stop. and whether they do it.

C) If they don't back off take your written record to the immediate supervisor and complain. Keep a copy of that written record in your home. Add the survisors response to the diary.

I did have a friend who dealt with something that might have been similar. When receiving inapproriate compliments the response would say. "Thank you. I'd hug you for that but then I'd have to sue you for sexual harrassment".

If someone moves too close into your space, can simply say - "you know we all have our own personal styles. I simply don't feel comfortable with you standing this close to me when we talk. Can you back off a bit.".

In general, find ways of explicitly asking them to stop doing the things that make your uncomfortable.

I mentioned a written record above. In todays work environment everyone should keep a work diary. No company is free of politics. There is always the chance of being harassed, falsely accused of something, made the scapegoat for a departmental problem, being given work and receiving cooperation - all sorts of stuff. Corporate bureucracies (even small ones) are impressed by written records. If something comes up, being able to turn a written record made by you long before the accusation or misunderstanding happened makes your version much more believable.

My advice to go to a supervisors is something I can't guarantee will work. A supervisor may sympathize with the harasser rather than you or agreee that it is harassment but be annoyed that you could not handle it on your own. But the fact is that not letting this sort of thing get out of hand is the job of whoever supervises this asshole.

So try to handle it for a little bit longer, by asking the asshole specifically to back up, and making a record of what he does and that you asked him and how he responded. If he backs off, fine. But if not go to the sleaseball's supervisor with the written record including documenting the fact the you tried to handle the problem yourself before going to the higher up. (or HR if that is the appropriate place. Though an immediate supervisor of the harrassing supervisor might be better politics cause it gives them one more chance to handle it with a minimum of fuss before heading for HR. Where to go depends on the politics of the place - but in many cases your supervisors supervisor will appreciate your going to him or her rather tha HR)

t On Edit

Bear in mind that all of the above are based on not knowing quite enough about your situation. This is general survival advicne. Modify it appropriately for your particular situation. But regardless of circumstances - start a work diary and update it every day. Not just for this for all sorts of things. For example end of the year when evaluations come, having a diary where you record day by day what you did can help you make a case for a raise or argue against an unfairly low evaluation. As long as you perform your job comptently, professionally, and ethically, there is no position- from janitor to CEO -where keeping an accurate and truthful day by day written record of what you do, what other people do that affects you, and what the results are won't benefit you.

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Tell him with a smile, "You're invading my personal bubble. I might have to cut you."

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Erin - better way to phrase it than mine.

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