August 18, 2010
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Get your Christianity out of my workplace…
So I’ve been working for two weeks now at the -Mart. I have nothing bad to say about the place beyond the normal complaints I would have concerning any job for a major faceless corporation, namely they think everyone in their employ is an idiot. You can just assume I work for the -Mart of your choice. It’s all the same to me, or them, or you. At least, I see no difference between one or half a dozen other Mart-like businesses.
They’re seriously not giving me enough hours. Two nights a week is enough to mess up my sleep cycle, but not really enough to pay the bills. It’s a lot of work, a lot of running around the store, crouching and standing… it’s good exercise. My legs hurt every day after I’ve worked. I like it. I’m glad I’m not stuck behind a cash register making inane conversation with customers who could care less.
The only complaint I have is with the woman they have “training” me. There’s really not much training going on, but only an idiot or a monkey would need to be trained to read labels and shelve accordingly. My issue with this woman, we’ll call her X, is that she’s a raving Christian. I don’t have issues with Christians normally, but this woman’s attitude equates to a “hostile work environment.” It’s not just that she’s a Christian, but that she’s a Christian hypocrite, proud of her ignorance, and belligerent about things she really knows nothing about. She doesn’t know I’m a Pagan and I’ll certainly never tell her, unless I plan on leaving my job soaked with holy water or crucified or don’t mind the entire town turning out to egg my house. It’s not like I wear jewelry that would make for easy identification. I can’t wear jewelry… my skin doesn’t like it.
My biggest issue with X is her language. It’s a good thing she works at night because she’s not fit to be around customers. There are very few circumstances in which I use foul language. Even if I hurt myself, I say sugar or darn. I keep my language rated G, in other words. If she’s not cursing out her philandering husband, she’s turning the air blue with curses heaped upon Darwin or people who believe in Global Warming or even management at -Mart.Whatever irritates her at any given moment is worthy of a ringing string of expletives.
She is impossible to have a conversation with, but at the same time, she talks so much, you can’t not respond without her thinking you’re giving her the silent treatment. There’s no safe subjects with her. She “doesn’t celebrate Halloween for religious reasons.” She “only reads books having to do with Scripture,” but it’s impossible even to have a conversation about Christianity with her without being told I “read the wrong books.” I can’t even express sympathy for her over her situation with her husband, who “logs into chat rooms while she’s in the room to have cyber sex with his girlfriends,” without her jumping on me and telling me I can’t possibly “know how she feels.” I felt like saying, well, he doesn’t beat you, right? So it’s not all bad. There is only her problems, and everyone else; there is no “I understand your pain” and feel sorry that there is nothing to be done. She prefers to wallow in it over being comforted by another.
I get the sense that the others keep their mouths shut simply to escape a tongue lashing. There’s a huge TV in the breakroom. We all take break together, no matter our personal feelings on the subject. She doesn’t have cable at home, but when the TV’s on, we watch what she wants to watch… namely the Country Music Channel. I’m not a big fan of country music, but whatever. I sit and try to read my book, but it’s hard when she’s sitting right next to me, singing along to the music or calling out answers to “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader.” It’s a nasty sentiment, but… I have a feeling I know why her husband cheats on her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she murders the man one day. She is one scary old lady and though I have not seen her physically violent, I would not be surprised to hear she’d attacked someone… for religious reasons. I have a feeling if she found out I was Pagan, she’d start quoting “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” at me. Despite the fact that it’s a mistranslation of a word meaning poisoner, I doubt she’d believe me since I read the wrong books.
Comments (13)
There’s a policy against profanity. She shouldn’t be cussing on the floor. You can report her. There’s an annonymous ethics line you can call to report her if you’d like. I can find it for you and give it to you tomorrow. Sounds like your mart is more messed up than mine which is saying a lot.
she seems so very pleasant!
Will you have to hang around her much once you finish being trained? (I really, really hope not!!!)
@NightlyDreams - I think we work at different Marts, so I’m not sure the number would be valid, but thank you.
@tatertot1972 - yeah… like Napalm.
@TheCheshireGrins - I can only hope not. They basically put you wherever they feel like it, but it’s a big store. So hopefully once I’m “trained,” I won’t need the “supervision.”
@harmony0stars - well if it happens to start with a W then let me know.
I would just laugh in her face. Crazy people. Taking over the TV is pretty evil, though.
@heidenkind - Talking over the TV is only “evil” because that’s a way to make sure the subliminal propaganda sinks in; your ears hear it, and your eyes might see it, but you don’t realize they have.
As for this whole entry, I’d have a fun time telling off someone like that. You could point out to her that the structure of the Church is a strict hierarchy and strict hierarchies are in place usually to control what people do or think; religion in institutional form has been poisoned from high above for centuries now. And you could then point out to her that a true Christian ought not to suffer ignorance, especially in themselves – minds are “God-given”, so we are therefore mandated to use them. Using them obviously means looking at the world from an analytical, as well as holistic, perspective, and hence thinking it through for ourselves and forming our own viewpoints – in this case she can match what she finds with her religion and see if it all adds up. You could then point out to her that spirituality does not come from anything external, it comes from within, and the whole point of exercising the mind in this way is to find your own spirituality, which is something that each of us ought to do to be in tune with our own soul.
Etc. The line of reasoning continues down, all you have to do of course is be flexible with comebacks and responses, and try to remain completely calm to keep the upper hand (I know that’s a bit of psychological manipulation, but it’s a useful one – calmness in an argument implies that the other person can’t touch you.). Also never hurts to have a stash of information in mind to present her with various precise, irrefutable examples of things like this (i.e. examples of hierarchies that have proven dominant over people’s lives and minds).
Then again, if you can’t help the situation in any way, or do anything about it, it might just be best to ignore it. There are some who can be reached. There are some who can’t.
Edit: Also if she continues to make assertive statements you think are ridiculous, you can easily ask her to back up her own points of view. Continue down the line of questioning why until she can’t answer.
That’s not Christianity. That’s an exclusively self-centered person who is using the name of Christ utterly in vain.
@rugbugg - Unfortunately a lot of Christians act this way and gives them a bad
name. It’s one of the reasons I usually say that my grandmother is the
only Christian I know. I’m just glad that this lady has apparently
chosen to believe I’m Christian based on my lack of bad habits.
Raw material for your writing…raw material for your writing….but if you make up a character like this people will say it’s a stereotype…hello, worst stereotype of christians come to life!
@Fiona - lol I know. She’s the kind of person who breathes life into the stereotypes.
Gee, I wonder who X could be (LOL). She enjoys herself by thinking she better than everyone around her. She has no control over her life,so she make everyone as miserable so she doesn’t feel alone. By the way ,she will never hear from me that you are a Pagan. It’s none of her business.
@Vicki Grimes - Thanks
I just don’t understand some people. How can anyone be happy being miserable?