I recorded a couple of segments for this coming Saturday's "Scuba Radio" with "Greg the Divemaster" and this thread was discussed in the very first segment. He comes on @ 3:00 pm EST and will post it as a podcast the next day. Again, I believe I'm in the first few segments in the first hour of the show.
www.ScubaRadio.com
Well indulging in ageism while you complain of sexism and racism is kind asking for it.
That's the big problem I had with this discussion. It's hard to see bias in yourself, so if someone is offended by your bias, it merits a closer look. I was the only white kid in my Jr High for all of 7th grade and the first half of 8th grade. My immersion therapy really taught me not to look at color, but at character. Later in life, I went to work for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company as a mechanic. I was hired by a black lady and about a year or so into it, she asked me to come into her office where she informed me that she thought I was mildly racist. Say what??? She cited that I did not give her the respect she thought she deserved and my response was that I showed no one the respect they thought that they deserved. IOW, I was an equal opportunity annoyer. I was shocked, hurt and not convinced that she was even close to being right. Yes, I told her about my Jr High experience to which she simply told me that she couldn't believe it. Ouch. The very next day her husband came in with his very best friend. When I heard his voice, there was no mistaking that I knew him from Jr High: it was Rodney P and we were in band together. Our reunion was lively with our special handshake from back then and his proclamation to my supervisor and her husband that I was the only white mofo in our entire Jr High. It was awesome, and her jaw hit the floor. No, she never apologised for calling me a racist but she had to rethink her stance. She just wasn't used to being treated no differently than anyone else. However, that incident changed how I interacted with her. I couldn't trust her to take things the right way anymore, so I stopped joking with her. I was just as friendly but just guarded. A dozen years later, after I had been transferred all over Central Florida dealing with service issues at various stores, she and I met at another Goodyear. After a few pleasantries, she confided that she had regretted calling me a racist and had felt the chill in our relationship afterwards. Apparently, that had made her confront her own biases about white males. Not all of us are racists. It was good, and frankly, I felt that I could have joked with her again after that. However, we went our own ways and that was that.
No one is without bias, including myself. As tolerant and inclusive as I think I am, I still have plenty of room to improve. When I am perfect, I'll call the obviously biased people in the world "cockroaches". Until then, I'll keep those verbal "stones" to myself.
that’s neat!
