Friday, August 06, 2004
But they DO sit Indian style
Two weeks ago I was forced to attend a quarterly meeting of the calibration lab at work. I can't stand attending these "state of the union" meetings where we all look at the work we've done in pretty PowerPoint format and pat ourselves on the back for two hours. But since it was mandatory and last time I got a movie pass, there I was. I walked to the back of the room where there were chairs lined up against the back wall. I would have sat up at the conference table, but I don't want them to see me suppressing my yawns.
I sat next to Mike and we started placing bets to make the meeting more interesting. The most fun bet was how many times one of the supervisors in our company would blurt out in hysterical gafaws at even the most mundane of humorous comments by the calibration lab staff. I bet eight. Mike bet nine. The total count was eleven, a personal record for the king of phony abasement. I could go on and on about this worthless shithead, but I'll save the "stupid boss" rant for all the other blogs.
Before the meeting started there was another Mike who walked in. This is Mike who runs the calibration lab at my site. He's a pretty cool guy I suppose. I've never had a reason to wish any suffering on him. So he started joking around with us for sitting in the very back and how impersonal the distance made us. I commented that if the point of this meeting was group intimacy we should all just huddle around in a circle on the floor and sit Indian style while covering the quarter's accomplishments. Well as it turns out, "Indian style" sitting is not a phrase that is known universally outside of Indiana. And seeing as how Cal Lab Mike is of some Native descent, he wasn't particularly amused.
Within earshot of my comment all the air got stale. Conversations halted in unison and it was like one of those E.F. Hutton commercials (When we talk, people listen). What did I say? Isn't that how they sit? Am I the only one who grew up with terminolgy like this? I've seen westerns. The cowboys sit on stumps of some kind with their knees apart and play the harmonica. The Indians squat down on the ground with their legs crossed, well, Indian style.
Mike got over it easily enough once I told him that that's what we called it growing up. Hell the teachers would tell us to sit Indian style in a circle for book readings. But this got me to thinking about all the ways that people are trying to adjust their vocabulary to eliminate anything which might offend. I'm not one of these people who says that we're all getting too PC, but I have to wonder why socially sensitive commentary is immediately pointed out when it happens. "what do you mean he's Korean? Do you kow that he's actually FROM Korea?"
Couldn't he have just laughed it off? I mean what are the odds that I am some kind of Native American bigot and I just felt the need to put him down? And what was with the sudden change in atmosphere? You'd think I just said "Tanto, you're going to have to pack up and leave now". It's the white people who are afraid of offending it seems, since everyone around me who got quiet was white. There was a black man there. He didn't seem to think anything of it at all. He just kept talking. And why do I feel like there's something wrong with me when I say that he just went right back to talking about basketball? He was. This sucks. A black former coworker of mine didn't hesitate for a second to point out all the ways that I'm a lameass white boy.
"you know what I like about you Mike?"
"What's that"
"You're whiter than white, you know that?"
"Hey thanks! And I think you're blacker than black."
"..."
You can guess where it goes from here. I thought I was just returning a compliment. And I don't think I'm alone when I say that I can recall several times that I would be looking for somebody or trying to describe a person to someone. And if they were black then it's just understood that you have to lower your voice when you say, "Well, he a black man".
I suppose I've heard people say things like, "You know Mike, the big white guy over there". But then that never really got to me. Come to think of it, I've never really had the opportunity to be offended by the socially "ignorant" comments of my peers. Maybe I should get hurt feelings next time somebody says "kraut" or "white bread". Then when the room falls silent I can pause, look hurt, and then laugh it off in a half-hearted attempt at hiding my pain. Then I'll get to be the proud and unfairly labeled guy who is strong and mature enough to let slide the ignorant comments of those around me.
White man's burden, friends. White man's burden.
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I sat next to Mike and we started placing bets to make the meeting more interesting. The most fun bet was how many times one of the supervisors in our company would blurt out in hysterical gafaws at even the most mundane of humorous comments by the calibration lab staff. I bet eight. Mike bet nine. The total count was eleven, a personal record for the king of phony abasement. I could go on and on about this worthless shithead, but I'll save the "stupid boss" rant for all the other blogs.
Before the meeting started there was another Mike who walked in. This is Mike who runs the calibration lab at my site. He's a pretty cool guy I suppose. I've never had a reason to wish any suffering on him. So he started joking around with us for sitting in the very back and how impersonal the distance made us. I commented that if the point of this meeting was group intimacy we should all just huddle around in a circle on the floor and sit Indian style while covering the quarter's accomplishments. Well as it turns out, "Indian style" sitting is not a phrase that is known universally outside of Indiana. And seeing as how Cal Lab Mike is of some Native descent, he wasn't particularly amused.
Within earshot of my comment all the air got stale. Conversations halted in unison and it was like one of those E.F. Hutton commercials (When we talk, people listen). What did I say? Isn't that how they sit? Am I the only one who grew up with terminolgy like this? I've seen westerns. The cowboys sit on stumps of some kind with their knees apart and play the harmonica. The Indians squat down on the ground with their legs crossed, well, Indian style.
Mike got over it easily enough once I told him that that's what we called it growing up. Hell the teachers would tell us to sit Indian style in a circle for book readings. But this got me to thinking about all the ways that people are trying to adjust their vocabulary to eliminate anything which might offend. I'm not one of these people who says that we're all getting too PC, but I have to wonder why socially sensitive commentary is immediately pointed out when it happens. "what do you mean he's Korean? Do you kow that he's actually FROM Korea?"
Couldn't he have just laughed it off? I mean what are the odds that I am some kind of Native American bigot and I just felt the need to put him down? And what was with the sudden change in atmosphere? You'd think I just said "Tanto, you're going to have to pack up and leave now". It's the white people who are afraid of offending it seems, since everyone around me who got quiet was white. There was a black man there. He didn't seem to think anything of it at all. He just kept talking. And why do I feel like there's something wrong with me when I say that he just went right back to talking about basketball? He was. This sucks. A black former coworker of mine didn't hesitate for a second to point out all the ways that I'm a lameass white boy.
"you know what I like about you Mike?"
"What's that"
"You're whiter than white, you know that?"
"Hey thanks! And I think you're blacker than black."
"..."
You can guess where it goes from here. I thought I was just returning a compliment. And I don't think I'm alone when I say that I can recall several times that I would be looking for somebody or trying to describe a person to someone. And if they were black then it's just understood that you have to lower your voice when you say, "Well, he a black man".
I suppose I've heard people say things like, "You know Mike, the big white guy over there". But then that never really got to me. Come to think of it, I've never really had the opportunity to be offended by the socially "ignorant" comments of my peers. Maybe I should get hurt feelings next time somebody says "kraut" or "white bread". Then when the room falls silent I can pause, look hurt, and then laugh it off in a half-hearted attempt at hiding my pain. Then I'll get to be the proud and unfairly labeled guy who is strong and mature enough to let slide the ignorant comments of those around me.
White man's burden, friends. White man's burden.
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