I’m usually treated with professionalism and respect. I’d like to think that it’s because I treat everyone I work with with the same level of professionalism and respect. I do my best to be not only friendly, but to meet the needs of my employees. And event though I bring the baggage of my personal life into work with me occasionally, I do my best to make sure those who work for me go home knowing they were appreciated.
Let’s face it, everyone hates to work for an asshole. Having that horrible feeling of dreading going into work day in and out eventually takes its toll on other aspects of my life. I’ve got enough to deal with.
Today, in the course of “just kidding around,” other people thought they would be cute to make light of the fact that I’m quite different than the other men who work there. Granted, I can usually play the role of Mr. Macho, but today for some reason my “gayness” was exploited. I can usually handle a barrage of jokes when I know people aren’t intentionally being insulting or trying to hurt my feelings. We all need thicker skin.
But once I tell someone they need to cool it, and they continue to taunt, I become incensed at their lack of maturity to slow down and remember we’re in a professional environment.
I wasn’t the only one who could see people were pushing the limits of respect. A friend looked over at me at one point and gestured if I enjoyed being a pinata and if I was going to spill candy on the floor. Later on, when he told me he felt uncomfortable with the level of crudeness going on, he thought of telling the other guys that there was “blood in the pool,” an image he used to identify that I’d really taken the barrage of their verbal refuse.
I tried to hold onto my pride. I ended up later retreating to my office, where I finally let out a few tears knowing I had to be stronger than that, and that I would have to confront them once again to let them understand that I expect to be able to work in a professional environment.
I feel like they missed the dog on the way to work and kicked me right in the gut.
Yelp.
But even a dog will bite back if it’s kicked too much.
What a horrible thing to have happen. I hope you find the words to explain that they went too far. Tough skin is all well and good, but people should respect one another’s limits.
Luckily, I know you realize the difference between a good bite and a bad one…
It can be hard being gay and lesbian (or bisexual for that matter) but I think that out of both genders men often get the worse abuse. There’s a whole desperate need some men have to be as masculine as possible, and somehow they feel that homosexuals undermine that. Cue the attacks. Stay strong x