The other day I heard another woman i work with talking about how she overheard someone make a comment to their son about some guy, basically implying that their son was gay. And she was like "I don't know, I mean it might have been true!" and my response was "who cares?" It just blows my mind that there are people in this world who really believe that there are like 7 gay people in the world and they all live somewhere else.
I just can't handle the closed minded ignorance that comprises so much of our population.
Basically i need to quit my job and find one that pays the same but isn't working with 40 year old angry divorced women with 5 kids who have never left Buffalo and never want to.* I just realized every secretary I work with grew up in Buffalo and their parents live here too. That fact had never crossed my mind before.
Only 11 months til Grad School.
- DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against Buffalo, it's my home, but we all know those people who don't leave Buffalo and not because they love it here, but because they don't realize that there is a world outside Buffalo that they can actually go to that isn't Disney World.
I have what I call the "Bliss Mantra" to get me through such situations.
You keep on smiling and nodding at everything negative but the minute you step out of work/their office/they step out of your office/cubicle, you erase *everything* they said and start afresh.
This way, every opinion I form of people are mine, and mine alone. An added advantage is that you can be on good terms with virtually everyone with the "Bliss Mantra".
I was so disillusioned when I got my first job out of school. I really believed that people grew out of the whole catty/gossipy/mean spirited stuff when they got to the workplace. Turns out that the catty/gossipy/mean spirited people in highschool are still that way in the workplace (not that none of these people don't ever change, just many don't seem to). And it's amazing how work cultures support that kind of attitude. I have worked in non-profits with co-workers that dedicate themselves to helping people, but wouldn't think twice of tearing apart another co-worker to their face!
Drama is everywhere. It doesn't matter where you work or where you go. Some people and socioeconomic classes hid it better than others but it is still there in one form or another. Going to grad school and hopefully landing employment in a place where everyone has achieved a high level of education will help in that cause. Just keep in mind that it will be a bit more subtle and discreet.
I know totally how you feel. Trust me it's not only Buffalo that is that way. It's a vast majority of corporate America. It blows my mind on a daily basis.