Welcome
Today was the first day for our new CEO. We had a brief donuts and introductions meeting in the morning and then as we started to pour out of the room, I was standing there with a few co-workers and the new CEO waiting for the elevator. Our new CEO has been in contact with us since she got hired and all she talked about beyond how excited she was was how she was in China for a few week with her kids. China this and China that. I get it, you went to China.
So one of my well-meaning but not so think-before-she-speaks co-workers cracks the joke/makes the waiting for the elevator small talk of “so…when you were in China, you must’ve stood out as like the tallest person there!” to which the new CEO goes “Yea, on average, I was the tallest.”
And yes, she’s “speaking from experience” and by her own words, the CEO didn’t say anything inflammatory.
And keep in mind that i’m standing right next to both of them and i’m one of two asian people in the entire office.
As I was telling a co-worker this, he suggested that maybe she realized it was a rude joke to make especially since i’m standing right there but since she doesn’t know anyone and since it’s her first day, she doesn’t want to step on any toes. I’m willing to believe all that, but i’d be a whole lot more willing to believe that if she stopped by my office today and said as much…
Is it too much for me to ask that she send me an email, give me a call, stop by my office to say “hey, I just want you to know that I didn’t think that joke was funny”?