use Perl

The First Rule of Employment -- be thankful you have a damn job, and work your ass off. It's getting to the point where our economy and general well-being depend on how well you do your job.

The Second Rule of Employment -- never EVER talk shit about cow-orkers and bosses/owners/managers while within earshot of customers/clients. You NEVER know when the client in question is personal friends with said cow-orkers, bosses, managers, etc.

I was at the local 'quickie-mart' this evening, and happen to know both the cow-orker and the owner that this newbie job holder was complaining about to another cow-orker RIGHT in front of me while I was at the register buying some 'coding supplies' :-) ... My question to myself right now is several-fold:

1> WHY did I choose to walk away instead of staring at him until he noticed and then buttonholing him on this? Damn whiner.

[well, I can answer this for myself. I didn't really start thinking deeply about this until later, as I was walking back to the apartment. I almost turned around and went back just to do this, but then considered the following:]

2> Should I talk to him about this privately later? (unless he's REALLY stupid, I'll probably see this person again at least once or twice)

or...

3> Should I talk to the owner (whom I've known for quite some time and talk with often) about his new employee's carelessness in discussing personal issues with cow-orkers[1] in front of customers?

Gads. Being sentient can be such a pain sometimes.

[1] yes this was intentional. google alt.sysadmin.recovery for details.
[2] :-) [3]
[3] if you can't figure out where this smiley belongs, you need to examine your funny bone; it may be in need of repair. I deliberately left the [2] out of the above text. I shouldn't HAVE to comment everything I consider funny with a smiley.