Diversity - What Is its Value^©

What is the purpose of a Diversity trainer? I guess I need to learn how to appreciate my rude and lazy coworkers. I think I will need to be trained on how to work for a rude and lazy boss. How am I supposed to appreciate my boss that is a living example of the Peter Principle concept?

It has not happened, but it seems to be a possibility in the future. How am I to feel comfortable working with a coworker who wears clothes that only allows the eyes to be seen? I do not know if it is a woman or a man. I am not sure how much respect I can give to a coworker that looks like a kid playing “Peek-A-Boo.” I guess I need diversity training.

Am I supposed to act like all other people that have attended the seminar? When am I allowed to think for myself? Some people think that for anything to be of value, it must include diversity. Why? I do not know. Some people say that you must be exposed to diverse experiences, ideas, cultures, etc. in order to understand your world. I say “chicken measles” to that.

When does a person select what they believe and want to live by? Diversity in what you believe causes you to become inconsistent in what you do and support. I guess you could become a mental klutz while being trained in diversity.

How does exposure to diversity help you make decisions? Do you use black, clear, white, or orange trash bags to store your trash? What does the color you use say about your color trash bags diversity training? What did you learn?

Don’t tell me that I am to deal with and accept people that are low on the totem pole of motivation, skill level, attitude, and expect things to be handed to them. Many people feel entitled because they are alive, and I am to work to provide them with what they want. Who provides things to me?

There are some people and ideas that are not worth the time it takes to cough on them when you have the flu. I have to admit that I did discriminate against some people by their behavior. The following describes such a family. I guess I am a bad person, because I do not think the family should ever be used as a model for family members.

After I got out of high school, I worked at a grocery store on weekdays. A buddy that worked on Saturday told me about a family that started shopping at the store. They stunk like a skunk laying dead on a road. The smell spread out around the family members. I had not smelled a person that smelled like he described them.

The family changed their shopping habits and started shopping on Friday night. I realized who they were when I was bagging their groceries. The husband always looks like he had a week’s growth of whiskers. At times I wondered if it was dirt on his face or a combination of dirt and whiskers. The wife’s beard was not as long or she washed her face. The husband and wife wore the same cologne. Their kids were the same smelly images of their parents.

As I started to put a bag of groceries in their car’s trunk, the odor over powered me. When I bent over to put the first bag of groceries in the trunk, I took a breath while bending over into the trunk. The smell overwhelmed me, and I started gagging. I backed away from the car in an attempt to get my breath. I though I was going to throw up. I was shocked by the way my body reacted to the terrible smell. I looked at the car’s trunk and the family members. I had several bags of groceries to put in the car’s trunk. I did not want to go near the car. It came to me that I should not take a breath while leaning into the trunk. I took a breath after picking up a bag of groceries and put the bag into the trunk. I waited till after I was back to the cart holding the bags before I took another breath. The problem of putting the bags in the trunk was solved. As the car drove out of the parking lot, I hoped they would go back to shopping on Saturday night. They didn’t. I found that the back seat smelled like the trunk. Taking a breath before putting the grocery bag on the back seat worked for me. My Saturday working buddy was pleased that he did not have to deal with the stinky skunk family.

One day the store had a big promotion day with free things to eat and drink. One of their children was about ten years old. He got a free cup of orange drink. He took a sip and did not like its taste. He poured out the remaining orange drink on the floor. He stepped in the liquid as he walked away. I saw him do this. I was shocked, because I was not raised to act that way. Being the low person on the employee ladder, it was my job to mop up the orange drink.

The value of diversity has to have an actual value for the people forced into experiencing the diversity awareness activities. I was glad I did not have to live a few days with the family to understand and appreciate how they lived. A person with average intelligence and experience can become aware of diverse perspectives by thinking about the situation. This saves time, effort, and does not force you to put up with the screwball people you do not appreciate their differences.

Being around the family help me to grasp the need to take a bath at least once a week which was good for a teenage boy. Being around this family help me become aware of the joy of being around a person that had recently bathed. Sometimes people can make a skunk smell good.

Dale “The Saint” Lee

A former resident of Pot Neck, Tennessee

Date last modified, September 8, 2010

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