And in political news ...
Reading my dwircle/flist, I realized that today is International Coming Out Day. Surprisingly, I had already come out today ... politically speaking, I mean :B.
So, the thing goes like this: until I landed in New Job, I had never felt the need to either come out or keep closeted when it came to my political inclinations. Despite being mostly uninterested when it comes to politics, I kind of have right tendencies, which makes me lean more in the Blue Party's direction. Now, my country's government is Blue, but in my State the Red Party (center) is the biggest player and has by far the best (less worse?) politicians among its lines. Locally I vote Red most, but also have voted Orange (left) and Green (center) once each; Nationally, on the other hand, I have voted Blue twice, Yellow (extreme left) once, and White once (center).
The thing is, people in New Job seem to believe that, because we are public servers and the government is Red, we also need to be Red. For a year I've heard this kind of comments going around and had never said a thing, because well, I'm one of the bosses; I don't want to make them feel like I'm trying to force them into anything not work related.
But today somebody literally insulted the Blue Party while we were already joking about other topics, and I couldn't stop myself from saying, even if with a smile and a joking tone "You shouldn't insult Blues in front of a Blue", and he immediately asked, still joking, "And who in this room is Blue". When I said I was, he joked about not letting Important Character (our boss' boss, and also one of the most big Red political fish in our State) hear me. And then, when I said he probably knew, he insisted I should be careful if I wanted to get a bone (a job position gained due to a personal/familiar/political relationship, instead of merits). I proceeded to tell him that I don't like bones, as most of the time I'm vegetarian.
Here I admit I personally know Important Character due to previous work relationships (he was my boss' boss' boss most of the time I held my previous job). Almost nobody knows about this, the same way almost nobody knows that I'd been offered the job I currently hold three times on the previous two years, and I finally accepted a year ago. Almost nobody knows, either, that I already have work offers for next year, when I have to step down from my position. This is due to sheer luck, but also a bit of prevision: right after finishing my bachelor studies I got my Masters in an (at that moment) less known specialization, then spent the next 8 years bringing awareness to this specialization; now that it is in demand, I'm one of the best known specialists on this niche.
So I guess this makes things easier for me, but still I find hard to imagine myself in their position. I know I've been lucky, but this man I talk about is lucky too, as he's one of the most efficient workers all around ... yet still he refuses to think that he could advance in any way by merits only. The sad thing is that he's polluting other, younger, public workers with his way of thinking. They are barely out of school, and they keep hearing about how what really works is connections, and about how not to do anything work related without expecting a selfish retribution. As public workers, this irks me. Yes, I want retribution, I wouldn't have a paid job otherwise; but he and those like he refuse to also see the impact of what they do in the citizens we are supposed to serve.
As for "coming out" sexually, as is the intention of this day, I refuse. I have no need to tell anybody in my RL that I'm asexual; those who need to know either already know or will eventually ask.
This entry is also posted at DW.
So, the thing goes like this: until I landed in New Job, I had never felt the need to either come out or keep closeted when it came to my political inclinations. Despite being mostly uninterested when it comes to politics, I kind of have right tendencies, which makes me lean more in the Blue Party's direction. Now, my country's government is Blue, but in my State the Red Party (center) is the biggest player and has by far the best (less worse?) politicians among its lines. Locally I vote Red most, but also have voted Orange (left) and Green (center) once each; Nationally, on the other hand, I have voted Blue twice, Yellow (extreme left) once, and White once (center).
The thing is, people in New Job seem to believe that, because we are public servers and the government is Red, we also need to be Red. For a year I've heard this kind of comments going around and had never said a thing, because well, I'm one of the bosses; I don't want to make them feel like I'm trying to force them into anything not work related.
But today somebody literally insulted the Blue Party while we were already joking about other topics, and I couldn't stop myself from saying, even if with a smile and a joking tone "You shouldn't insult Blues in front of a Blue", and he immediately asked, still joking, "And who in this room is Blue". When I said I was, he joked about not letting Important Character (our boss' boss, and also one of the most big Red political fish in our State) hear me. And then, when I said he probably knew, he insisted I should be careful if I wanted to get a bone (a job position gained due to a personal/familiar/political relationship, instead of merits). I proceeded to tell him that I don't like bones, as most of the time I'm vegetarian.
Here I admit I personally know Important Character due to previous work relationships (he was my boss' boss' boss most of the time I held my previous job). Almost nobody knows about this, the same way almost nobody knows that I'd been offered the job I currently hold three times on the previous two years, and I finally accepted a year ago. Almost nobody knows, either, that I already have work offers for next year, when I have to step down from my position. This is due to sheer luck, but also a bit of prevision: right after finishing my bachelor studies I got my Masters in an (at that moment) less known specialization, then spent the next 8 years bringing awareness to this specialization; now that it is in demand, I'm one of the best known specialists on this niche.
So I guess this makes things easier for me, but still I find hard to imagine myself in their position. I know I've been lucky, but this man I talk about is lucky too, as he's one of the most efficient workers all around ... yet still he refuses to think that he could advance in any way by merits only. The sad thing is that he's polluting other, younger, public workers with his way of thinking. They are barely out of school, and they keep hearing about how what really works is connections, and about how not to do anything work related without expecting a selfish retribution. As public workers, this irks me. Yes, I want retribution, I wouldn't have a paid job otherwise; but he and those like he refuse to also see the impact of what they do in the citizens we are supposed to serve.
As for "coming out" sexually, as is the intention of this day, I refuse. I have no need to tell anybody in my RL that I'm asexual; those who need to know either already know or will eventually ask.
This entry is also posted at DW.