Tricky seeing your Boss in Public Situations and how to Deal with them
You are just walking down the street minding your own business, and all of a sudden you run into your boss out in public! Perhaps you don't actually run into your boss, but you see your boss at the store, the mall or at the bar where you have been drinking a little bit. What do you do to either avoid this situation, or play it off with as much grace as possible.
The first thing you need to do is to realize that your boss is a human being just like you. Just because your boss seems like a robot who only exists to rule your life from 9am to 5pm, it should be noted that your boss has a life. The only reason your boss might seem to be uptight or somewhat straight edged is because the boss only wants to be professional.
You might not want to talk to your boss, or might feel like it is a little awkward to have to see your boss again outside of work. Do you not talk to your boss and avoid that awkward small talk, or do you talk to the boss out of fear that avoiding him will have repercussions at the office when you go to work the next day? The answer might be somewhere in the middle.
Chances are that your boss doesn't really care about what you are doing outside of work as long as it is legal and doesn't make the company look bad. Your boss isn't going to fire you for seeing you at the bar on Friday night for happy hour. The boss knows people drink and don't really care too much if you keep it all together. Heck, you boss probably doesn't even care if you talk to him or not, but it could get you a leg up at the office if you hit it off.
How you react probably depends a lot on how you and your boss get along at work. Do you guys have a cordial relationship at work? If that is the case, chances are that small talk will be good enough, and simply acknowledging the boss is good enough. Don't be too weird as to offend him in a social setting, but you don't have to buy him drinks either.
Just be cool when you see your boss in a situation where you may be drinking, or just didn't want to have to deal with the boss. Just remember that they are people too, and they don't really want to force you to be uncomfortable, as it might be a little awkward for them as well.
