Are You against making friends with the people you "Work" with?
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I think it depends on the type of job you have and the particular co-workers.
For example, if you're in a rock band there's a good chance you're going to be hanging out with co-workers. But if you work in a big, impersonal office, maybe not.
I've worked places where my co-workers were actually sort of on my wavelength. I'd hang around with some of them on occasion during non-working hours. But I've also worked places where I had absolutely nothing in common with anyone there. I might as well have been working on another planet with aliens.
We have a few core workers at my job who have been here for years. We are friendly and get along fine at work. Other than work we really do not have anything in common so do not see each other outside of work. The others come and go so fast it is hard to keep track of their names.
I'm not against making friends with my coworkers. In fact, some of my best friends today are people that I met at work. I never go into a workplace expecting to make friends and I certainly don't treat it like a social hour. However, it's quite nice to work with people that I enjoy being around.
I WILL agree with those who have said to choose wisely and tread carefully. There are some people who are great outside of work, but become completely unbearable once you step into the office.
To me it totally depends on the work environment and situation.
I've got friends I've had for decades, that I met at work originally (though we've all gone our separate ways) and I've also worked in offices where relationships remained purely professional.
For me, it's important to be on professionally friendly terms with my coworkers if at all possible (and that's usually possible). I enjoy grabbing lunch with a coworker from time to time. If a deeper friendship comes from that, I'm OK but I don't push it and I tend to be cautious about it.
I made one friend during my working years; turns out she was bi-polar and caused me a lot of anguish after I left that job. Another co-worker attempted to make me her friend and I supported her during her bout with cancer. When my cancer was diagnosed, she disappeared.
That's my problem and issue too. Not to say that non work related friends can't disappoint you also, but I have literally gone years being friends with coworkers, only to find that 8-10 years after we left the job they outed themselves as flakes and weirdoes. Other coworkers I spent time talking to, and I can't remember their names now. Perfectly pleasant way to spend the day at the time, but I could've been using my brain cells for other issues in lieu of the chitchat.
On the contrary. I try to make as many friends as I can at work. It makes things go sooooo much smoother. Plus, most movements up the ladder in this industry are a result of connections and networking. Having people put in an internal letter of recommendation can make a world of difference in one's career path in this industry. Nearly all of my best friends throughout my life have been those I've met at work.
Some of my best friendships were formed at work. I think it just depends on each situation.
Pretty much this. A co-worker turned into one of my closest friends over the last year and a half. I usually try to keep co-workers as strong acquaintances most of the time, but things happen.
I don't mind making friends with the people I work with.
But in some work environments, the work is so stressful that people don't think about making friends with each other.
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