A Man, a Baby, and a Friend
I was once a manager at a small-town Mcdonald's. I would train all types of people in all
types of positions. One day a new girl came in. She was full of life and excitement about the new
job. It was my responsibility to show her how the front counter cashier works and how to get into
the swing of working in a fast food restaurant. Since there are so many little buttons and external
things, she and I would be spending the next week working side by side. I used approach
behaviors, this is a type of behavior people use to get to know someone. She told me many
things about herself. The ones that were most important to her were about a man and her new
baby girl that she would be expecting in the next five months. I was so excited for her, but she
told me to keep it between us. She didn't want many people to know about her personal problems.
To this day she still likes to keep things private. I had called her right before writing this essay to
ask for permission and she agreed as long as her name was hidden. She wanted to use
the communication privacy management (CPM) theory, which is a theory that explains how people
manage the tension between privacy and disclosure.
At the time she was only a 19-year-old girl. She didn't want to be judged for being a
young single mom. The more we saw each other in and out of work she started telling me more
and more about the father-to-be. He practiced infidelity, the ignorant young man had sexual
involvement with someone else than his committed partner. Therefore she chose to be a single
mom and I was touched. I had an interpersonal attraction to her. I wanted to be her friend, and
support her through all her hardships and greatness. I was raised by a single mom and I know
how hard that is. I know that it can only tak...
