July 20, 2012

• Report # 902

  Friday is here again and seeing as I'll be finished with my job on August 7, this will be my last Friday entry that I'll have to type at work. The week has gone by super fast and after today I just have 11 days of work remaining. After some really warm and sunny days on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday was mostly cool and cloudy, but once the sun came  up in the evening it felt pretty warm. I got off work at 2:00 pm as I went to meet Danny at a bus stop to go and have lunch.

  She actually goes back to Mexico today so it was the last day that I would see her. We took the bus into Langley and we went to Viva Mexico for lunch. All of the restaurant staff spoke Spanish so I was able to order in Spanish ! I really have to stop ordering so much food at these restaurants though, I just can't eat it all. I ordered some Queso Fundido to start, which is basically melted cheese with pieces of sausages with tortillas to eat it with.

  I also ordered a plate with rice, salad, a quesadilla and something that had chicken and cheese. I had a giant class of Horchata as well which is a good tasting non-alcoholic Mexican drink. The only downside of the meal was that I had asked specifically to not have beans and to have more rice instead, but I still got beans, so someone didn't listen very well. I just can't stand beans so whenever I get them on a plate I just can't eat them.

  After eating Danny and I walked to the bus stop and got on the bus. I had to get off first as Danny was going to meet her cousin downtown so I said good-bye to her and that I would try and visit her in Xalapa. Seeing as I still wanted something sweet to eat, I stopped at Tim Hortons just to grab a few cookies before walking home. The last few evenings have pretty much been the same. I worked on my Spanish story, watched an episode of the telenovela that I'm watching, and talked to Dora before going to bed.

  My Spanish story is pretty much finished now, though I might touch up the ending a little to make it a little better, but basically it's finished. I definitely need a break from story writing for a long time. Today I just wanted to talk a little about something that happened yesterday morning. While I was walking to work, another guy who works here, though in a completely different department came up to me and started walking with me.

  We talked a little and one of the things he said I was very shocked by. He told me that he heard someone saying that I was autistic and he asked me if this was true. I said no and I asked him who he heard that from.... though he didn't say any names. This kind of made me upset for a few reasons. Firstly, there are lots of autistic people in the world who work and do great jobs. They should be respected just as much as anyone else, and having people talk about them is just completely inappropriate.

  Secondly it's really of no concern to that guy or anyone else if someone else is autistic. So I don't understand why he would just approach me and ask me that in the first place. And once again there seems to be a bunch of people in this place that enjoy gossiping. I talked about before how some people seem to be going out of their way to watch what other people are doing while they work, but now people are just completely inventing things.

  I'm sure 90 % of the people I work with are extremely professional, but there is no question there are some people out there (and I don't really know who they are) who just enjoy making up stories and acting like immature idiots. I talked to the co-worker I work closely with and she told me she's never heard anything like that and that I shouldn't let it get to me as there will always be people in the workplace who gossip and say things about others.

  This whole thing has just been very weird to me as the guy who told me the whole autistic story in the first place hardly even knows me.... I just see him around a few times a week and only for a minute at a time. So I have no idea where he heard what he heard or if he made it up entirely. I do know though that somewhere along the line someone or a group of people have acted extremely unprofessional and what they have said speaks very poorly for themselves.

  I am not bothered by this too much though. I feel more injustice was done to people with autism who apparently have to listen to such ridiculous comments in the workplace and in their lives in general. All of those people who speak down on these individuals with different sets of challenges in their lives they should all be ashamed of themselves. No one is perfect and we all say things we don't mean or stupid things at times, but we must do our best to act professionally especially when one is expected to be professonal. Clearly some people have a long ways to go in learning this !

  So I urge everyone to speak out against those who make such inappropriate comments, create stupid workplace gossip, or outright lie. These people are lowering all of us with their stupidity and they need to be held accountable for the garbage that they spew out of their mouths. In a way though I am glad to have been a part of this odd situation. It has given me a lot to think about and reflect on, and I really do think I've learned something from it.

  For the next question:

  Whart sort of gossip have you heard or been a part of before ?

  Today I'll leave you all with some pictures from around Vancouver when I was hanging out with Danny. I hope that everyone has an amazing weekend. Take care and I'll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  • 5:12 pm
  • 2 Comments