Today Of All Days
Dec. 6th, 2006 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcepsaBloody hell. I just overheard the janitor ranting about homosexuals (specifically men) and it hit me a lot harder than I expected it to. I can take it pretty well when someone is joking about something and I can tell they don't really mean it; they're entitled to be uncomfortable or uncertain about it and I usually figure that, while they might not want to hang out with a bunch of folks with alternative sexualities, they don't really have a problem with the fact that they exist. I'm okay with that. There are groups of people that I don't think I'd want to hang out with either, but if they want to get together without me that's cool.
But that's not what I overheard today. I heard hatred. And it triggered my fight or flight something fierce. I did neither--he was down talking to someone else in the cubes. That someone else was doing his level best to defend people's right to their own lifestyle, but the janitor was having none of it. I wanted to jump in, but I could hear how that someone else was doing and realized that nothing I said would make any difference (plus I was paralyzed because it was the best way I could think of at the time to keep myself from bolting.) I'm very proud of that someone else, though, and glad to know they are only a few cubes away. I stopped by afterwards and thanked them.
For now, I think that's all I'm going to do. If it happens again, though, I'll be talking to my supervisor. (Oh, and my dry-erase board is now sporting a nice rainbow across the bottom ;) I'm a little off balance, but recovering quickly ^_^ And it's reminded me not to take the community for granted.
The incredible irony of this all is that we're going to be hosting S. Bear Bergmann tonight for a presentation of hir book Butch Is A Noun, which focuses on gender issues. Full speed ahead!
But that's not what I overheard today. I heard hatred. And it triggered my fight or flight something fierce. I did neither--he was down talking to someone else in the cubes. That someone else was doing his level best to defend people's right to their own lifestyle, but the janitor was having none of it. I wanted to jump in, but I could hear how that someone else was doing and realized that nothing I said would make any difference (plus I was paralyzed because it was the best way I could think of at the time to keep myself from bolting.) I'm very proud of that someone else, though, and glad to know they are only a few cubes away. I stopped by afterwards and thanked them.
For now, I think that's all I'm going to do. If it happens again, though, I'll be talking to my supervisor. (Oh, and my dry-erase board is now sporting a nice rainbow across the bottom ;) I'm a little off balance, but recovering quickly ^_^ And it's reminded me not to take the community for granted.
The incredible irony of this all is that we're going to be hosting S. Bear Bergmann tonight for a presentation of hir book Butch Is A Noun, which focuses on gender issues. Full speed ahead!
