I do think I prefer het in my slash; that is to say, if the slash is a particular non-canon pairing being focused on then I want the rest of the characters' orientations to be the same as in canon. Not generally a fan of stories set in The World Where Everyone Is Gay.

(Exceptions made for Queer as Folk and Torchwood fic, where all the major characters really are gay or bi. And Angel, where Cordelia seems to be the lone bastion of heterosexuality...)

I'm very glad that squick warnings for het are going away. Just because it's the side of privilege doesn't mean that isn't deeply disturbing. And I'm not sure I want people *disgusted* by straight sex on my side in anything, ever.

Of course, I'm also in another argument defending breast implants, so evidently I need to get off my ass and go to the damned police station. Getting right on that.

Good luck to Steph's co-worker.

A little information is no one's friend. Don't do that to medical editors.

Isn't it a bit weird to need to know precisely what surgery your co-worker is having? I'd be okay with a friend being vague, never mind a colleague. It's all good.

Nevertheless, I hope his open thingy thingy gets closed up nice and tight and s/he's okay.

Isn't it a bit weird to need to know precisely what surgery your co-worker is having?

Yes, thank you. Although to be fair Steph's coworkers know rather more about medical issues than the average layperson, so I can understand the interest.

For myself, this is why I'd want the all-staff email to say "surgery," period, but different strokes for different folks?

Although to be fair Steph's coworkers know rather more about medical issues than the average layperson, so I can understand the interest.

This. I think, for us, vague is worse than specific. Specific means we know more or less what will happen and what the prognosis is, etc. Vague just makes us get all flappy-handed with frustration.

I'm feeling all flappy hands over my health care reimbursement stuff. I'm on the phone with them, well on hold while he consults a supervisor. Due to a mistake on their part, I had to send in EOB's covering over $2k in expenses. But when they got it, they rejected it - even though I did it just as I was asked. Ok, seeing a 92 page fax is daunting - but my cover letter explained very clearly what I was sending in and why. Arrrrrggggggggggggggg.

My workplace is closed-mouthed to the point of ridiculousness when communicating about illnesses among the staff. We get told (by email) when someone is seriously ill, but the nature of the illness is never mentioned, and we're all sort-of supposed to pretend we don't know about it. Asking someone "do you know what's wrong with C.?" gets you scolded for spreading a rumor that the sick person might be ill.

OTOH, given this ultra-discreet environment, my boss is ridiculously cavalier with our private information. She's actually discussed other team members' evaluations with me, and talked to me about V.'s bipolar disorder and how she didn't like her and didn't know what to do with her. This is yet another reason I'm glad I'm not in the office anymore!

Although to be fair Steph's coworkers know rather more about medical issues than the average layperson, so I can understand the interest.

I know for positively certain that my office would be exactly the same way--all of us, from the division chief straight through the staff list to the lowliest admin, already know too much. Go vague on us and we will spin out and go panic-flappy much faster than if you give us specifics, even scary high-risk specifics.

And, ugh, Suzi. I've done the why-are-you-rejecting-this-thing-I-only-sent-you-because-YOU-SPECIFICALLY-TOLD-ME-TO-DO-IT-EXACTLY-THIS-WAY dance, and it is a dance that sucks. Fingers crossed that the supervisor recognizes the ridiculosity of it and hustles it on through.