I Think I'm Now Less Respectful

I had to take a mandatory training class at work on Tuesday. It was by far the most painful and annoying class I've ever had to take.

It had phrases like "protected class" and "diversity" and other insulting words that made me roll my eyes and shake my head.

Unfortunately I had no choice but to take the class. I had even asked my boss what would happen if I didn't take the class. In this environment though I really am not interested in rocking the boat *too* much.

Of course that didn't mean that I took the class too seriously. It was PAINFUL. Seriously and truly painful.

The video segments played were ridiculous and beyond reality. A woman walks out of a meeting to chat with her male coworkers. She's clearly looking for feedback and oh boy do they "give" it to her ... if you catch my drift. They act like frat boys telling her she sure kept their attention and it wasn't her presentation. And has she been working out.

Yeah...I get that all the time!

The instructor is a lawyer (non-practicing) so of course this kind of thing keeps her in business. Diversity training - help get the economy rolling!

The only time I paid any attention is when they talked about inappropriate touching because I will snap a finger or punch someone who tries to touch me inappropriately. As a matter of fact I helped get someone fired from a previous job. He thought it was okay to "brush up" against females ... he "accidentally" touched my butt and even my boobs a couple of times before we figured out what the hell he was doing. (Why did it take more than once you ask? Because I was 16 and it was a fast food resteraunt where there wasn't exactly a lot of room. People bumped into each other all the time...but this finally became obviously on purpose.) I cannot STAND to be touched, even by accident (and no, that doesn't apply to my husband or hugs from little kids ... I love little kids) even by my mom or brother. Grandpa always thinks it's funny to "force" a hug from me but I don't mind from him ... I play along. Even my grandma had to "demand" her hug when she was alive.

But stranger touching? BACK THE FUCK OFF. That's pretty much the tone of my body language.

So I did participate in that part because I think even the nicest people don't necessarily mean to get in people's space. Some people are huggers and don't realize that it can make other seriously uncomfortable.

But all that other crap ... "be sensitive to other people's nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity" ... makes me want to puke.

I just got the feedback survey and I wasn't exactly subtle. When asked what I recommended for improving the class I suggested canceling it all together. It's an insult to thinking human beings.

If someone has a problem with another person they either need to confront the person, report it to their manager, and keep going up until the situation gets resolved. If it doesn't get resolved within the company go to a lawyer. There are many who work pro-bono or at least don't require payment until a case is won.

It's incredibly insulting and punitive to force associates to attend these kinds of things. I have done nothing wrong and yet am punished and assumed to be an ass who has to be coached to behave in an appropriate manner.

My blog may be disrespectful and annoying but trust me ... in real life I can be an angel when I want to.

The whole class (it lasts over 3 hours!) I was just thinking about how much it cost and how we're cutting jobs. Cancellation of the class costs $200. There were 26 people in class. That is $5,200 a class and there were 2 classes that day. $10,400 for that one class. The books were really fancy, spiral bound with high quality paper. TOTAL WASTE OF FUCKING MONEY!!!

One of our associates who was with us for over 20 years was just let go and I'm forced to take this waste of money crap class? WTH?!?

As you can see, I'm still a little ticked about the whole thing. I really do hope they cancel the class going forward. But somehow I doubt it.