He said it because you are the HR person. duh

OP here.

Thaks to those of you who have offered constructive thoughts about this. I now have a few of my own.....

First, I wish I always had exactly the right response in a moment someone says something but this time I didn't feel like I did. As I reflected on it afterward the comment stuck with me in a way I didn't like. Now thinking about it over the weekend I thought I would try posting here for thoughts and let's just say....I won't do that again. The trolls here at DCUM drag us all down. But again, thanks for the constructive comments.

I realize it's hard to tell the *whole story* in a post short enough that people will read it but here are some additional facts for those who have read a whole lot into this scenario that I didn't actually say.
1. I'm not a floozy. Maybe you're a troll. You should reflect on this.
2. Brad actually retired last year. I only met him twice (he traveled a lot) and those meetings were brief and benign. Joe knows Brad well so that's probably why his name came to HIS mind as he thought about this. I don't think Joe saw us in the same room on the two occasions we met. I really have no relationship with Brad....working or otherwise.
3. Sally brought up the Coldplay concert. It's been in the news. I don't think there is anything wrong with talking about it. I know Sally well and respect her as a business leader. We have a good working relationship and I'm not worried that Joe's stupid remark will change anything Sally thinks of me. We're good.
4. Joe can be annoying. This isn't the first time he's said something really strange in my presence, sometimes about me, sometimes not. He is a senior business leader and should know better, but walking to a work dinner that was meant to be social, it seems he let his professionalism slip, as he has been known to do.

Anonymous wrote:Is it just that you and hold similar positions to the Coldplay couple? I would assume if you're comfortable talking about that event with coworkers, you could just laugh it off and say OMG, eww!

Exactly. OP started the coldplay discussion. It's not professional, especially in her line of work.

Is it just that you and hold similar positions to the Coldplay couple? I would assume if you're comfortable talking about that event with coworkers, you could just laugh it off and say OMG, eww!

You’re making way too big of a deal about this.

Who TF is Sally??

Anonymous wrote:You started it by dredging up the coldplay people casually at work within earshot. Now you want to turn tables and threaten them with "HR"

If you were truly an HR professional, you would have a closed-door convo about "what were they thinking and what training should we proactively do at our company, if any"

You are as bad as the rest of them and the astronomy coldplay lady. HR really does suck.

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No op did not deserve that comment based on their comment! With that logic you could take any basic conversation and turn it into an insult. Not cool you trying to gaslight.

everyone hates hr ladies. you're adding to why.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a senior HR team member for a business unit within my company and Thursday night I was walking to a dinner event with two business leaders after work. Sally and I were talking about the Coldplay concert and the couple that was busted on the kiss-cam. "What were they thinking" kind of conversation.

Joe laughs and says, "I was trying to think of who might do this at our company and all I could think of was you with Brad."

Joe is not known for having a great filter and catching himself before he says random things he shouldn't so while I am sure he would just say he was making a joke, I couldn't help feeling pretty awkward about this and not only him picturing it (which I realize I can't stop) but also him saying it in front of others. Sally is a colleague and someone I respect and need to work with.

I feel annoyed by this and I'm sure some of how I feel is based on past stupid things he's said (another straw on the camel's back, so to speak).

WWYD?

I would tell him not to make 'jokes' like that ever again! Next time, I would say 'can you repeat that" This is unacceptable and not a joke. I would complain