When Your Co-worker is Rosie O' Donnell

Many, if not all of us, have people in our lives we could do without on a daily basis: that obnoxious boss, the annoying neighbor, or the very loquacious temp whose ability to talk supercedes that of her ability to produce. For the rest us who are fortunate enough to work from home, we may be confronted with a significant other, a spoilt child or even a parent who is still controlling after 75 years. Interestingly enough, we manage to put aside our differences, and try our utmost best to work with those difficult people on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, those difficult people seldom see themselves as having deficiencies. Such individuals are incapable of being wrong. According to their egoistical and illogical thinking, they are the quintessence of perfection. These types of individuals see the cup as half empty, and cannot understand how anyone would see that same cup as half full. Sadly, these individuals represent a great percentage of our society that would stop the world if they could, and dispose of a person simply because of discrepancies in opinion.

When we think about bullies, we tend to think about young kids terrorizing each other or the leaders of socialist or communist movements. Seldom do we use the term bully to refer to an overly aggressive, must have my way type, co-worker.

Bullies attack when they feel threatened. Likewise, a worker who feels threatened by a colleague's talents may become resentful and eventually resort to devious means to get rid of that colleague.

Since her debut on ABC's talk show, the View, Rosie O'Donnell has been dominating the headlines. Though she has since departed from the show prematurely, she manages to keep the media engaged in her rather interesting life.

Rosie's juvenile outburst on what became her last day at the View, was totally uncalled for. Her personal grievance with co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck could have simply been resolved off the air. Both Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck should have handled themselves a little more professionally. Four women, all from different walks of life are bound to have disagreements. Therefore, the way each chooses to defend her view is what ultimately makes us differentiate the classy from the trashy, the intelligent from the ignorant. In addition, the manner in which each defends her position will ultimately determine whether she is worthy of an hour of our precious time.

It is rather appalling that the caustic spat between Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O'Donnell escalated to such farcical lows. What are the requirements of becoming a talk show host on the View? Is being opinionated, sans tolerant of others, sufficient to seal a contract?

In our work environments disagreements are almost inevitable. However, if we want to remain part of a team, there are certain rules to be followed. Very few of us can walk out of a job (like Rosie O'Donnell) just because a co-worker does not agree with our very liberal or very conservative views.

As you go remember: It is ok to be passionate about issues that you believe in. It is ok to be unconventional. It is ok to be tolerant. It is not ok to keep emailing Rosie and calling her a Fat, Disgusting, Lesbian.

Tolerance is a virtue that cannot be purchased. Let each man allow his neighbor to express her views irrespective of how baseless or lackluster those views may be.