Fellow members of "my" organization has consistently complained about a few of us who attend not in uniform. Being tall and bulky I stand out. So the organization bought us all what we needed as gifts. Mine was for a couple of years of service not just because I was out of uniform.
So my uniform showed up and I was happy until I looked it over, then I got angry. I hate any thing, person, or group that limits my options. I define who I am by my actions, I'll rage against the machine that pre-defines me in any way, shape, or form.
To safely explain, I now have a t-shirt that I "should" wear for all meetings. This t-shirt is in the organizations colors, has the organizations name boldly printed on it, (so far so good right?) and has my current job title on it. CURRENT!!!
See, volunteer would be fair - janitorial volunteer is not. By placing "janitorial volunteer" upon it does this mean I can only be a janitor? Or if someone else rises to that position should I give them my "gift", oops, t-shirt.
And putting job title on the t-shirt is almost always a personal choice, one people make for themselves. Someone else made this decision for me, and just me!. They chose to pay a little extra for this to happen but only for me of the group so lucky to receive such a gift.
Now I'd like to speak up but am I being whiney?
Of course I don't think so, I'm offended that this happened. I feel it's a gesture of disrespect as I held a much more significant job than janitor let me tell you. Just because I stepped down to janitor, it does need to happen!, doesn't mean that is all I am now, all I've contributed, or all I may contribute from now on.
And therein lies what I find offensive.
So my uniform showed up and I was happy until I looked it over, then I got angry. I hate any thing, person, or group that limits my options. I define who I am by my actions, I'll rage against the machine that pre-defines me in any way, shape, or form.
To safely explain, I now have a t-shirt that I "should" wear for all meetings. This t-shirt is in the organizations colors, has the organizations name boldly printed on it, (so far so good right?) and has my current job title on it. CURRENT!!!
See, volunteer would be fair - janitorial volunteer is not. By placing "janitorial volunteer" upon it does this mean I can only be a janitor? Or if someone else rises to that position should I give them my "gift", oops, t-shirt.
And putting job title on the t-shirt is almost always a personal choice, one people make for themselves. Someone else made this decision for me, and just me!. They chose to pay a little extra for this to happen but only for me of the group so lucky to receive such a gift.
Now I'd like to speak up but am I being whiney?
Of course I don't think so, I'm offended that this happened. I feel it's a gesture of disrespect as I held a much more significant job than janitor let me tell you. Just because I stepped down to janitor, it does need to happen!, doesn't mean that is all I am now, all I've contributed, or all I may contribute from now on.
And therein lies what I find offensive.
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