Political Harassment
Hey there hi there ho there. Welcome back.
My sister came by for the final leg of my three week long birthday celebration. We sat in my kitchen, ate up some of my famous hybrid pancakes, caught each other up on our lives.
Our talk turned to harassment - political harassment, specifically. She and my mother work together at a major real estate agency. And of late, there is has been a lot of hate leveled towards Obama, who the two of them support. That's to be expected this close to a hotly contested election where one side has declared total war against the other.
But what do you do when you can't get away from the hate? When the constant barrage of political jabs becomes a distraction from your job?
Full disclosure: As pissed off as I am at the NDAA I'm supporting Obama in the upcoming election as well.
My sister says that she and my mother are the subject of a steady barrage of Tea Party style anti-Democrat jokes and comments. They receive unsolicited mass emails, are subject to jokes (most of which are terribly tasteless, all of which are way off base), are the subject of derision for their political beliefs.
Is that okay?
I say no, not in the work place.
Its uncool anywhere - who wants to be badgered about their convictions? Would you feel okay if every day I tried to convince you that your religion was wrong, and that you should join mine? - but I feel that its inexcusable in the workplace.Work should be about work - you don't go to your job to have all-day confrontations about your personable beliefs. You are there to do a job, and unpleasant behavior that makes it harder to do your job should be eliminated. Obviously there are grey areas that need to be worked out.
You can forgive the heat that people have about their political opinions. Many modern media organizations run on the fear and hatred of their viewers. If you were a visitor from another planet who tuned into the news for a few nights you might leave earth with the conviction that whoever wins the upcoming Presidential election, the loosing side will all be executed and buried in some massive sacrificial ziggurat. The inflammatory rhetoric comes at you twenty-four seven and after a while you get swept up. That's how brain washing works - you just keep yelling something at someone, and eventually they start believing whatever you say.
The Traveling Now Saves The Workplace, Part 1
You should be able to talk politics with your co-workers. You should be able to work free of harassment. How do we reconcile these two axioms, so often at loggerheads?
Why, you do it by following the Traveling Now's simple rules for Politics in the workplace.
Be Respectful: Really, all workplace harassment issues come down to a lack of respect. Simple flirtation or the pursuit of a relationship becomes sexual harassment when the object of your affection says no and you do not respect that no. Likewise, its possible to have a conversation about politics, but if you are just trying to score points, show your disdain, or out yell someone you have crossed that line. No one is obliged to let you cross-examine their beliefs on any sort of casual basis. If someone isn't into hearing about politics (or fishing, or sports, or whatever!), then you should respect that.
Respect also means you use a respectful mode of discourse. That hilarious cartoon you found of Obama dressed like Hitler might say exactly what you want to say, but emailing it to someone who you know is an Obama supporter is an attack. Period. Political cartoons are what they are, no one expects them to be Fair and Balanced, but loading your co-workers inbox with the ugliest stuff you can find on the internet is not cool.
One last thing - respect rarely, if ever, has to raise its voice.
Don't Monologue: Dialog!: That means you listen as well as speak. If you want to talk politics, don't just spit out everything you heard from Rush Limbaugh or Terry Grosse in the car that morning. Try to engage, rather than harangue, and you are on the path of the Cool Office Friend. Disagreement is healthy and necessary and if engage the people you disagree with rather than just trumpeting your beliefs you might find your way to that most rare of discussions, the Productive Discussion. Hooray!
By the way, monologue is the only way to change anyone's opinion. Right or wrong, people hang on to their beliefs with an iron grip when those beliefs are assaulted. Want to change someone's mind? Keep asking questions, and pay attention to the answers. You can not change anyone's mind - they have to change their own minds. If they put their beliefs, or their defense of their beliefs, into words they will eventually hear what they are saying and might just find themselves at odds with their own beliefs. That's soil that change can grow in.
Okay, that's enough about etiquette today. Best of luck to all of you in all your endeavors.
Currently Digging: The Waterboys, The Diamond Age, Juan of the Dead
