But what's the value or the point? What am I missing? Why would I want to, say, have a serious 1:1 with my boss in a Romance Room? Maybe I'm too old for this level of "whimsy"...?
Could this argument be applied to a room called, "Coworker Fuck Room"? I mean, it's just a room name, so it's only juvenile if the people behave that way, right?
I could see it as the "go-to" room for pitching new ideas (so you can "romance" someone into liking your idea), but the "break up" room makes less sense. Since when do you want to broadcast that you're "breaking up" with a person or idea with a specific room?
It's just a room name, so I dunno if it really matters, but it's definitely a little weird.
Edit: I just realized that the room would probably be way more available than other rooms, because of the name. That might come in handy for a clever meeting scheduler if resource contention is a problem.
Actually, I'm not sure. Is it really not technically straw man? I think it is, but am tired of typing and I feel like I have wasted a lot of time in this thread. Everyone have a good week! See ya later.
The logic that you can simply dismiss any room name as being appropriate if those who work with it are mature enough is not valid because there are room names which are so unambiguous, no interpretation but an inappropriate one can be made. My above comment is not a straw-man, it's an example of one such room name that cannot be interpreted any way but inappropriately. Feel free to use a different example if you think the above one is too extreme.
Of course we could all imagine a bunch of made-up names for rooms that would be inappropriate in a business setting. Nobody is arguing that no such names exist.
My problem is simply with your entire approach to your argument. What you are doing is very common on internet forums, and it is a cheap way to "prove" people wrong under any circumstances. It is called black-and-white thinking. Here is the template: "If you think this one small thing is true, then you must think EVERYTHING ever in the entire world is true!!!" Obviously, you will be able to think of some example in the world that is false (even if your example is not what the original person was arguing for or against), so then you will feel like you have accomplished your goal (you have proved the person wrong).
Here is where we start going down this rabbit hole:
The logic that you can simply dismiss any room name as being appropriate...
Keyword here is "any". Who in this thread tried to argue that ANY room name should be appropriate? (Hint: nobody tried to argue this. You just made this argument up so you could shoot it down.)
...it's an example of one such room name that cannot be interpreted any way but inappropriately.
Yep, you're right, inappropriate language exists in the world. Nobody can argue against this. And nobody HAS argued against this.
Here, I will use your method of argument against you:
You are WRONG to think that "Employee Fuck Room" is an inappropriate name. What if it was in the offices of a company that produces pornography? Then it would be very appropriate here. It would be especially appropriate if this company had very edgy office vibe that encouraged this type of language. Also, what if someone ran a small shop that specialized in distributing super-offensive memes on the internet? They could have a room called "Employee Fuck Room" and get away with it, and one could argue it would be totally appropriate in drumming up the types of ideas they need to run their business. See!! I completely made up a couple examples that show how you could be wrong in some tiny edge case, therefore, you are 100% WRONG.
See how stupid that is?
This style of argument can lead to some real gems. (Bonus, religious-nut-themed example: "If you think gay people should be able to marry each other, then you must also think that a monkey and a toaster should be able to marry each other!!")
The world is not black and white. If I think some name is ok, I don't have to think that ALL names are ok. I have a brain that is able to pick and choose. I don't have to just think in black and white, ALL GOOD, or ALL BAD.
Here's a novel concept: How about we just understand that people will disagree with each other once in a while, and move on with our lives. Some people here can think that "Romance Room" is a silly and fun office name, and some people will have no problem with it. Some OTHER people will disagree. And that is fine. You don't need to try to convince everyone to come over to one side or the other. Some of us can just disagree, or agree, and we can just move on with our lives.
Okay there's very clearly a miscommunication occurring.
Here's what I thought your argument was:
> At a company where the maturity level is sufficiently high, room names cannot be inappropriate. Specifically, these room names are not appropriate.
Here was my counter argument:
> There are certain room names which are inappropriate, regardless of the maturity of those who work at the company in which the room name exists. Specifically, these room names are inappropriate because they don't imply, but directly state sexual activity between coworkers.
I tempered my argument by saying I don't think it's something that will ultimately matter, but is certainly "weird", a term that is admittedly ambiguous. I then gave an example of such a room which would be unambiguously inappropriate, the "Employee Fuck Room". If this specific example causes you consternation, then I withdraw it. It's not important to my argument, in any event, and serves only to illustrate my point by example.
The kind of argument you're describing is not anything like what I've been saying. It's my unqualified opinion that you're reacting emotionally and putting a whole lot of other issues into this conversation which aren't relevant.
> It's my unqualified opinion that you're reacting emotionally...
Oh, I see, so if ANYONE disagrees with you about ANYTHING EVER, it must only be because they are reacting emotionally and have no logical basis for their disagreement? Huh, REALLY? (See, I just used black-and-white thinking again... See how we could go around and around like this until the end of time? Aren't internet arguments fun? Hit me back, it's fun coming up with these.)
I'm good. I also think there are certain room names that cannot be interpreted as anything but workplace inappropriate, maturity irrespective, and that this room name is one such name.
not projecting at all, that's like saying phrases have no meaning. It is juvenile, possibly it's an attempt at humor, but that doesn't detract from the silliness that comes from naming rooms that way.
