History Main / BeingPersonalIsntProfessional

* Much like the Marines example in the Real Life section, Zelik Leybenzon in [[StarTrekNovelVerse Q&A]] is a DrillSergeantNasty to his men, and kind of a rude dick to Geordi while on-duty, but is perfectly friendly and sociable when everyone's hanging out in Ten Forward.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* Ebisu from ''Manga/{{Ebisu-san and Hotei-san}}'' is like this as she tells Hotei that she doesn't have time for personal conversations at work because Ebisu's firmly committed to not putting in any overtime.

* ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'', where Inspector Fowler can't give opinions as both a commanding officer and a boyfriend at the same time.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Mr. Sturgeon from Creator/GordonKorman's ''MacdonaldHall'' is like this, he is so strict that he's known for his 'fishy stare', yet funny and good humoured to his wife.

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

* {{Inverted}} on ''Series/RoyalPains'' with Dr. Jeremiah, who is socially awkward and generally is not emotional in everyday life but is encouraged to be personable for the sake of the clients.

* ''Series/TheCosbyShow'': Theo is completely flabbergasted to see that his uber-strict, no-nonsense math teacher is an attractive, fun-loving, and HappilyMarried woman.
* Inverted in an ''Series/{{ER}}'' storyline which had Mark failing to support Susan when she was blamed for the death of a patient and hauled before the review board, and subsequently failing to understand why she was so hurt and angry that she refused to speak to him for weeks afterwards. When he tries to reconcile with her, he essentially cites this trope, saying that she can't expect him to side with her because of their friendship.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* {{Inverted}} in ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon X and Y}}''. The protagonist can catch one of the Pokémon Center nurses outside their usual job, but she just wants to enjoy watching Pokémon battles on her day off, insists that she isn't there to care for your Pokémon, and tells the protagonist to just go over to the nearest Pokémon Center.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', Ms. Finster turns out to be an old friend of Spinelli's parents. She turns out to be quite cool in the end despite her [[SternTeacher Stern]] to SadistTeacher tendencies.
* Mr. Ratburn in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' is shown to be this when they follow him to a carnival, where he's shown putting on a puppet show for small children and generally being nice to kids. He had previously only been seen as a harsh teacher at school. {{Lampshaded}} a little by D.W. who thought that teachers lived at school.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] [[PlayedForLaughs for humor]] in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' where Enrique wants to meet Hank after work to get some personal help with some marriage problems he's having. He seems to assume that Hank is less stoic and impersonal after hours. He's really not, but Enrique interprets his actions that way anyway.

* [[{{Main/RogerFederer}} Roger Federer]] seems unaffected and cold on the court, but is very social and cheery off. If someone is injured, he calls or emails them to make sure they're OK.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* RealLife teachers are often like this, the mix of having to maintain discipline in the classroom and needing to be above reproach in their interactions with students (sometimes to an unreasonable degree.) It relaxes a bit in high school and college, though, as the students get older and more mature.
** One of the most world-shattering moments in a child's life is running into their teachers outside of school and discovering they're *GASP!* ''human!!''

-->''"''Feelings''? Look mate, you know who's got a lot of feelings? Blokes who bludgeon their wives to death with a golf trophy. Professionals have'' standards''."''
---> The Sniper, ''TeamFortress2''

* {{Inverted}} in ''VideoGame/PokemonXandY''. The protagonist can catch one of the Pokémon Center nurses outside their usual job, but she just wants to enjoy watching Pokémon battles on her day off, insists that she isn't there to care for your Pokémon, and tells the protagonist to just go over to the nearest Pokémon Center.

** The truly shocking thing is that point around the middle to end of university when one might well end up being invited to have a drink with a professor or attend some other sort of social event at a professor's residence. Until that point, one's teachers' humanity is merely theoretical; now, you're part of it.

* Mr. Ratburn in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' who had previously only been seen as a cruel teacher at school. {{Lampshaded}} a little by D.W. who thought that teachers lived at school.

* Ebisu from ''{{Ebisu-san and Hotei-san}}'' is like this as she tells Hotei that she doesn't have time for personal conversations at work because Ebisu's firmly committed to not putting in any overtime.

* Gorden Ramsey, bombastic chef of ''Hell's Kitchen'', appears to be quite friendly and personable on the reward trips winners on his show go on. But, as soon as he is back in the kitchen and they screw up....
* ''TheCosbyShow'': Theo is completely flabbergasted to see that his uber-strict, no-nonsense math teacher is an attractive, fun-loving, and HappilyMarried woman.
* Inverted in an {{ER}} storyline which had Mark failing to support Susan when she was blamed for the death of a patient and hauled before the review board, and subsequently failing to understand why she was so hurt and angry that she refused to speak to him for weeks afterwards. When he tries to reconcile with her, he essentially cites this trope, saying that she can't expect him to side with her because of their friendship.

TruthInTelevision, being too emotional in certain jobs may prove dangerous or at least detrimental to how well you do the job.

* {{Inverted}} on ''Series/RoyalPains'' with the new character, who is socially awkward and generally is not emotional in everyday life but is encouraged to be personable for the sake of the clients.

The ConsummateProfessional is very much likely to subscribe to this trope. Compare HatesSmallTalk.

* Michael Weston of ''BurnNotice'' can be like this.
* Dr. Clark Edison on ''{{Bones}}''. He '''really''' doesn't want to be involved in anybody's personal life and is less than pleased with all the interpersonal non-business talk.

* {{Inverted}} on ''RoyalPains'' with the new character, who is socially awkward and generally is not emotional in everyday life but is encouraged to be personable for the sake of the clients.

* In ''CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin is surprised to hear his mom ran into his teacher at the store during the summer. When asked why he said he had always imagined that teachers spent the summer sleeping in coffins.

* In ElfBlood, Council Captain SKO behaves this way when on-duty, even going so far as to make the childhood friends under her command address her as [[spoiler: Madam Controller]] when on-mission. Off-duty though, they live in the same quarters, share the same food, and SKO behaves a lot more casually to them.

* In ''{{Recess}}'' Ms. Finister turns out to be an old friend of Spinelli's parents. She turns out to be quite cool in the end despite her [[SternTeacher Stern]] to SadistTeacher tendencies.

* The WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes with Ralph the Wolf and Sam the Sheepdog who are friendly to each other before and after the work whistle blows and eat lunch together but are enemies during "working hours."
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] [[PlayedForLaughs for humor]] in one episode of ''KingOfTheHill,'' where Enrique wants to meet Hank after work to get some personal help with some marriage problems he's having. He seems to assume that Hank is less stoic and impersonal after hours. He's really not, but Enrique interprets his actions that way anyway.

* Mr. Sturgeon from GordonKorman's ''MacdonaldHall'' is like this, he is so strict that he's known for his 'fishy stare', yet funny and good humoured to his wife.

* John Wemmick from ''GreatExpectations'' is like this. At the office of Mr. Jaggers he's a humorless, slightly unpleasant man who is devoted to the acquisition of 'portable property', while at home he is a joyful, caring, and generally amiable fellow who lived with his ancient father in a whimsical house built like a tiny castle. He's very insistent that his personal and professional lives don't cross.