Which page am I on, and who's on it with me?

[klwilliams]

[Poll #1245602]

Comments

[scotica.livejournal.com]

In the original question there is a lot of ambiguity about the relationship between the co-workers -- "co-worker" can have such a wide variety of relationships. But yes, the context has been made clear now, in comments (which not everyone reads through before commenting themselves).

In any case, I can actually picture a straight male in a professional situation saying "poor thing" about a male colleague and meaning it sympathetically. I can even more easily imagine a woman in a professional situation saying "poor thing" about a male colleague and meaning it sympathetically. However, I picture this with a non-American cultural component (e.g., the speaker is either Scottish or Scottish-influenced).

"Little", however, I can't really picture outside of the co-workers being friends and having a relationship where it would not be out of place.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I was trying to be somewhat vague in the original question so as to get as unbiased a response as possible.