One persons mental enslavement is another persons polite etiquette. Its all in where you draw the line. Not farting in someones face must be considered bodily gas enslavement. Also don't want to enslave any mucous when you sneeze, let it fly, freedom for all!
Personally I don't find it any more mentally taxing than remembering to keep my mouth closed when I eat or not drool on myself, but I am willing to acknowledge that not everyone may be as mentally well endowed as myself and such things can be difficult to grasp.
agreed but you can be polite and respectful in your response to those kinds of questions as I felt the OP was. Politely stating a fact is not akin to rubbing someones face in it.
To me, context is key, is it polite to state a fact
to a question not asked? Maybe its just me, but if I asked someone if they are working on getting a teachers credential and they answered that they were retired, I'd think, yeah but WTF does that have to do with my question which is left unanswered. Seems presumptuous to assume someone would only get a credential because they need money and could not retire. Am I the only one that can see how it could be perceived by a coworker?
I
*personally* don't see a coworker asking "are you working on getting teaching creds" as a logical segue into discussion of personal finance/FI status.
I
*personally* think it uncouth to inject discussions of wealth/status into conversations
with coworkers when not specifically asked, but it seems at least a few of you are more free in exposing your financial well being in this regard and see any personal restraint on waiving the retirement flag as a personal affront to your civil liberties.
Also, yes I think stating a fact can definitely be stated to rub someones face it in. For example, in one extreme: "Would you like a ride to the train station?" -> "No thanks, I have a brand new Tesla with wonderful heated leather seats and a high end sound system, so I will drive myself." I don't see how whether something is in fact true has any bearing on politeness?