Decade
03-10-2007, 01:58 AM
Everyone has at least one of those bastards you have to work with at your job. Lucky people have 1, average joe has at least a couple.
I'm an average joe in this regard, but remarkably I didnt make this thread to talk about the WORST guy in the office by far (I've nicknamed the bastard Arrogant fucker), it's about the next guy. It might sound strange, but I'm pretty heated right now and just need to vent this.
I'm an avid anti-racist. Seriously, I am extreamely sensitive to any person on how they feel in general, not just the office. This is because I'm both hispanic(white) and jewish and have basically been hit with the worst you can think of for my heritage. Now, I'm not a practicing Jew (I'll fully admit, I'm probably one of the most "unjewish" Jew's you'll meet because I don't really like to live by any religion), but I still get shit for being Jewish more than being hispanic (most people wont really believe me because I'm white that I'm hispanic. That's cause most people cant think of a hispanic person being anything other than a tan guy mowing their lawn. :bored: You can imagine the looks of mind-blown faces I get when I start busting out the Espanol with other people :eyepop: :eek:).
Experencing prejudice for either/or in the past, I've learned that you should always be sensitive to others because no one should be singled out just for the color of their skin/religion/ethnicity/etc. It's gotten to a point that I tend to forget someone is Indian/Black/Muslim/Asian/Latino/etc until someone mentioned it. When I realized that, I was happy at that time because I felt as though I reached a point where I really didnt care who a person was, I could approach anyone comfortably. Unfortunately, that time ended when I started my job because others dont practice the same philosophy. The most astounding of all? I have the most diverse work group in my company with people from almost every continent in the world.
This is where my problem begins though.
One guy in my office is a profound idiot. He's about 25 now, and he acts like an immature child who can't seem to comprehend what it means to be a professional adult in the work office. He is a black ethiopian immigrant who is very crude, speaks a lot of street talk, and will intentionally say racially profound statements just for shock value.
When he walks by me, a lot of the time he tries to talk like he's Tony Montana to emulate what he believes is a spanish accent. He does it to be funny, but really he does it to try to just say something racially relevant to the person present (I honestly dont care. The guy does this, but he also claims I'm not actually spanish. Yea, I really care a guy who knows NOTHING of Spanish culture really decided that for me :bored:). What REALLY gets me though, is that the guy is ignorant enough to call you racial deregatory terms to your face and think it's ok and funny.
I.e., he's called me to my face at least 3 times "A fucking Jew" or "A cheap Jew." It's fair to say he's said it alot more behind my back as well.
Each time he's said it, I told him right then and there "Do NOT call me that, that's NOT ok." He also knows I'm willing to go to management and HR over it, so he "tries" to appologize by telling me I shouldnt be so God damn sensitive. I tell him to Stfu or I'll go to the management.
I'm not going to claim to be the only one he's tried to make fun of; He's gone in audible range of the gay employees to tell people "I'm smoking fags/That's gay/That guy's a faggot." Never directly talking about them, but lets it be heard. My coworkers had to actually TRAIN this moron not to do this (what???), at least so openly.
You would think that the efforts of my coworkers and myself to get this moron to stop acting so ignorant in my office would have had an effect on him, and it did:
It's caused him to try and call out racism against him.
Now before you jump to conclusions, you have to hear what he calls racism.
If anyone complains to him now, he throws out the excuse "You're just doing it because I'm black!" No, we're doing it because you're being an idiot (other black coworkers have told him this as well, so it's not as if it's a case of just "white guys" telling him to stfu).
He loves to use this excuse on me more than ANYONE else though, because he knows I'm the one he's offended the most and is on thinist ice with (out of 2 other people whose ever made an antisemetic comment to me, he's actually had the audacity to do it again....and again :bang: ).
You all may be wondering the obvious question by now then:
"Why hasn't anyone actually gone up to the managers or HR yet?"
Well, people have. Unfortunately, the managers don't really have that much effect. What's worse is that people can do this (and WORSE) and not get fired because the turnover rate in my company is so high; They would rather just let things get crappy enough for the employees that they'll just leave and go to another job. Not only that, but no one wants to be the guy who might get someone fired. Worst of all, he actually is friends with most of my coworkers, so nobody would actually want him to get fired, and if I did, it would kinda put me on the shitlist in the office.
For a couple of months, things have cooled down a little. He'd still do stupid shit like do a mexican/puero rican accent whenever someone mentions anything even remorely hispanic, make a gay joke on the other side of the office from the gay employees, etc etc, but he had toned it down from his massive, flamboyant prejudice announcements.
However, any chance he could get to throw something in the air of me being a "racist" he would. Specifically, he would point to a white co worker and say "why me and not him?" He always tried to say this loud enough to get attention for it, the "HE'S A RACIST!" attention, but he always ran away as soon as I gave the answer "I DO give them shit for it!" Let me give you examples:
If I give gum to my coworkers in my cube, white/black/asian/muslim/latino alike, if I didnt offer him a piece when he comes back 2 minutes later, he'd point to my white coworker, of all the group, and ask "Why did he get one?"
If I give him shit for being crude, saying something ignorant/offensive/stupid, "Why me and not him?" He always tries to run away before he hears the truth of "it DOES happen to him/her too!" He also ignores the fact that if I per say give gum to coworkers, he'll give me shit about being racist EVEN IF I gave it to other black coworkers. In other words, he's got no grounds to stand on, he's JUST trying to find a way to get less heat on him for the racial shit he's started.
I had my final straw with the bastard today though. The bastard literally walked over to my 4 man cubicle from the other side of the office to launch a rancid fart at us. We all looked at him and told him off, but then he looks at me and goes "Why don't you get mad at him when he does it?"
"DOES WHAT? Does he come over to me from another cubicle just to launch a fart at me and my coworkers? No, he's in this cubicle already so he doesn't maliciously come here to do that. And when he DOES rip one, we DO give him shit, so whats your problem?"
But of course, he marches off not wanting to hear it.
I've had it, I've really had it. One SURE fire way of really getting to me is call me a racist or accuse me of racism. I've gone out of my way for everyone in the office to make sure they dont feel singled out as I have for being who they are, and this bastard knows it.
I know what some of you may be thinking, that maybe I've done some stuff unintentionally that may be considered racist to him. I've actually talked to coworkers in my office which are of almost every background you can think of (including black), they all try to reassure me I've never done so. It's gotten to the point where they have to try and CONVINCE me I haven't done anything like that because this guy has really gotten to me. They also try to convince me not to take it so personally and not actually complain about him because most people dont want him to actually get fired.
I've really reached my limit though. I've put up with his prejudice, I've put up with his ignorant acts, and I've had enough of being called a racist for his own stupidity. I've decided I'm going to talk to the managers seriously about him on Monday and make sure this moron gets the idea that HE'S the one who should be worried about being called racist, not me. If I feel as though the managers haven't done an adequate job, I will bring it up to HR.
Sorry for the gynormous post, I just needed to vent it all out. He's really, really burned me up today and I just cant deal with it anymore. I hate it when a person tries to play the "you're a racist!" card when they're trying to get out of trouble they're causing, he's really got no idea how much of an idiot he is nor the damage he's doing to himself and others.
I'm an average joe in this regard, but remarkably I didnt make this thread to talk about the WORST guy in the office by far (I've nicknamed the bastard Arrogant fucker), it's about the next guy. It might sound strange, but I'm pretty heated right now and just need to vent this.
I'm an avid anti-racist. Seriously, I am extreamely sensitive to any person on how they feel in general, not just the office. This is because I'm both hispanic(white) and jewish and have basically been hit with the worst you can think of for my heritage. Now, I'm not a practicing Jew (I'll fully admit, I'm probably one of the most "unjewish" Jew's you'll meet because I don't really like to live by any religion), but I still get shit for being Jewish more than being hispanic (most people wont really believe me because I'm white that I'm hispanic. That's cause most people cant think of a hispanic person being anything other than a tan guy mowing their lawn. :bored: You can imagine the looks of mind-blown faces I get when I start busting out the Espanol with other people :eyepop: :eek:).
Experencing prejudice for either/or in the past, I've learned that you should always be sensitive to others because no one should be singled out just for the color of their skin/religion/ethnicity/etc. It's gotten to a point that I tend to forget someone is Indian/Black/Muslim/Asian/Latino/etc until someone mentioned it. When I realized that, I was happy at that time because I felt as though I reached a point where I really didnt care who a person was, I could approach anyone comfortably. Unfortunately, that time ended when I started my job because others dont practice the same philosophy. The most astounding of all? I have the most diverse work group in my company with people from almost every continent in the world.
This is where my problem begins though.
One guy in my office is a profound idiot. He's about 25 now, and he acts like an immature child who can't seem to comprehend what it means to be a professional adult in the work office. He is a black ethiopian immigrant who is very crude, speaks a lot of street talk, and will intentionally say racially profound statements just for shock value.
When he walks by me, a lot of the time he tries to talk like he's Tony Montana to emulate what he believes is a spanish accent. He does it to be funny, but really he does it to try to just say something racially relevant to the person present (I honestly dont care. The guy does this, but he also claims I'm not actually spanish. Yea, I really care a guy who knows NOTHING of Spanish culture really decided that for me :bored:). What REALLY gets me though, is that the guy is ignorant enough to call you racial deregatory terms to your face and think it's ok and funny.
I.e., he's called me to my face at least 3 times "A fucking Jew" or "A cheap Jew." It's fair to say he's said it alot more behind my back as well.
Each time he's said it, I told him right then and there "Do NOT call me that, that's NOT ok." He also knows I'm willing to go to management and HR over it, so he "tries" to appologize by telling me I shouldnt be so God damn sensitive. I tell him to Stfu or I'll go to the management.
I'm not going to claim to be the only one he's tried to make fun of; He's gone in audible range of the gay employees to tell people "I'm smoking fags/That's gay/That guy's a faggot." Never directly talking about them, but lets it be heard. My coworkers had to actually TRAIN this moron not to do this (what???), at least so openly.
You would think that the efforts of my coworkers and myself to get this moron to stop acting so ignorant in my office would have had an effect on him, and it did:
It's caused him to try and call out racism against him.
Now before you jump to conclusions, you have to hear what he calls racism.
If anyone complains to him now, he throws out the excuse "You're just doing it because I'm black!" No, we're doing it because you're being an idiot (other black coworkers have told him this as well, so it's not as if it's a case of just "white guys" telling him to stfu).
He loves to use this excuse on me more than ANYONE else though, because he knows I'm the one he's offended the most and is on thinist ice with (out of 2 other people whose ever made an antisemetic comment to me, he's actually had the audacity to do it again....and again :bang: ).
You all may be wondering the obvious question by now then:
"Why hasn't anyone actually gone up to the managers or HR yet?"
Well, people have. Unfortunately, the managers don't really have that much effect. What's worse is that people can do this (and WORSE) and not get fired because the turnover rate in my company is so high; They would rather just let things get crappy enough for the employees that they'll just leave and go to another job. Not only that, but no one wants to be the guy who might get someone fired. Worst of all, he actually is friends with most of my coworkers, so nobody would actually want him to get fired, and if I did, it would kinda put me on the shitlist in the office.
For a couple of months, things have cooled down a little. He'd still do stupid shit like do a mexican/puero rican accent whenever someone mentions anything even remorely hispanic, make a gay joke on the other side of the office from the gay employees, etc etc, but he had toned it down from his massive, flamboyant prejudice announcements.
However, any chance he could get to throw something in the air of me being a "racist" he would. Specifically, he would point to a white co worker and say "why me and not him?" He always tried to say this loud enough to get attention for it, the "HE'S A RACIST!" attention, but he always ran away as soon as I gave the answer "I DO give them shit for it!" Let me give you examples:
If I give gum to my coworkers in my cube, white/black/asian/muslim/latino alike, if I didnt offer him a piece when he comes back 2 minutes later, he'd point to my white coworker, of all the group, and ask "Why did he get one?"
If I give him shit for being crude, saying something ignorant/offensive/stupid, "Why me and not him?" He always tries to run away before he hears the truth of "it DOES happen to him/her too!" He also ignores the fact that if I per say give gum to coworkers, he'll give me shit about being racist EVEN IF I gave it to other black coworkers. In other words, he's got no grounds to stand on, he's JUST trying to find a way to get less heat on him for the racial shit he's started.
I had my final straw with the bastard today though. The bastard literally walked over to my 4 man cubicle from the other side of the office to launch a rancid fart at us. We all looked at him and told him off, but then he looks at me and goes "Why don't you get mad at him when he does it?"
"DOES WHAT? Does he come over to me from another cubicle just to launch a fart at me and my coworkers? No, he's in this cubicle already so he doesn't maliciously come here to do that. And when he DOES rip one, we DO give him shit, so whats your problem?"
But of course, he marches off not wanting to hear it.
I've had it, I've really had it. One SURE fire way of really getting to me is call me a racist or accuse me of racism. I've gone out of my way for everyone in the office to make sure they dont feel singled out as I have for being who they are, and this bastard knows it.
I know what some of you may be thinking, that maybe I've done some stuff unintentionally that may be considered racist to him. I've actually talked to coworkers in my office which are of almost every background you can think of (including black), they all try to reassure me I've never done so. It's gotten to the point where they have to try and CONVINCE me I haven't done anything like that because this guy has really gotten to me. They also try to convince me not to take it so personally and not actually complain about him because most people dont want him to actually get fired.
I've really reached my limit though. I've put up with his prejudice, I've put up with his ignorant acts, and I've had enough of being called a racist for his own stupidity. I've decided I'm going to talk to the managers seriously about him on Monday and make sure this moron gets the idea that HE'S the one who should be worried about being called racist, not me. If I feel as though the managers haven't done an adequate job, I will bring it up to HR.
Sorry for the gynormous post, I just needed to vent it all out. He's really, really burned me up today and I just cant deal with it anymore. I hate it when a person tries to play the "you're a racist!" card when they're trying to get out of trouble they're causing, he's really got no idea how much of an idiot he is nor the damage he's doing to himself and others.