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?
Just joke to the absurd extremes of the opinion and see how far they go. If they agree with you, people will generally see them as wrong, and of they push back then get them on the push back. Most people don't actually have experience discussing and challenging their ideologies (as they aren't forum junkies), so it's pretty easy to dance rhetorical circles around them.
That being said, the most important thing is not to look like a dick while you are doing it.