I started a job at a sawmill and at first things were good, it seemed liek the group I was working with was a good bunch of folks but a couple of things have stood out to me.
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This sweet older lady that I was shadowing for the first day, we were joking and talking the whole day and i thought she was just a really nice person. And then one day I overhear her in the lunch room saying "they just don't deserve to live honestly" when referring to addicts, like wtf? how can someone be so pleasant and then turn around and say something so barbaric.
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I was shadowing another guy who seemed friendly and we were getting along well, and then one time while a group of us were standing around just talking, he was complaining lightheartedly about his wife when he starts dropping bombs like: "Best place for a woman is in the kitchen" and "A woman looks best behind a vacuum" there were more but I don`t remember cause I was honestly shocked.
I was looking forward to getting to know the people here and getting in on the group dynamic but now im not sure if im gonna be able to stand anyone here lol, so far it was only these two but going forward I want to be able to counter reactionary bullshit like this when I hear it. Chapos how do you counter this shit when you come across it without pissing off your coworkers?
99% of people in the real world have a bunch of stupid bullshit in their brain thats only there cos they have never really looked at it or been challenged on it, and also just say stuff for the sake of having something to say, maybe, I dunno. I like to think I would challenge that shit when I saw it but would probably just fake laugh out of politeness I don't know I haven't spoken to anyone new in like a year.
Right? I always thought I would be the first to call someone out on that, but then it happened and I just chickened out lol. Oh well, I intend to push back more the next time it happens.
It's hard to navigate that situation because you don't want everyone to end up thinking you're a moralizing killjoy. People tend to rationalize their discomfort at being confronted by assuming the other person is just trying to feel superior and isn't actually making genuine points. I run into this all the time with animal rights stuff. People are more likely to go down the "vegans are too preachy/intolerant/arrogant" route instead of engaging with the stuff you're telling them about factory farming. It's particularly difficult to navigate that in the workplace.