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I laughed at a co-worker's assertion that "non-white people can't be racist". Vodalus Send a noteboard - 04/10/2017 11:23:35 PM

Does that count?


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First let me begin by saying where I am on the SJW scale: I'm a straight white male of good health, on the tallish side, a couple of SDs out on the high side of IQ distribution, without obvious physical defects, raised in the suburbs in the midwest. My mother had a good income and my stepfather had an even better one. I've got pretty much no privilege cards to play. All yuor privilege are belong to me, is what I'm getting at.

So when it comes to microaggressions, I can really dish them out, I suppose. But I can't recall many.

One I do recall happened 5-10 years ago. My truck was having a problem and so I went to an auto parts store. At the counter, I asked the graying gentleman standing to diagnose my problem. He called over a curly-haired young woman and asked her opinion. She ID-ed the problem based on his relaying of my facts to her. Then I asked him what I should do about it, and again he turned to her, and she answered. After a couple of rounds of this, eventually I purchased the parts I needed and left.

It took a couple of weeks before I realized that I had treated that young lady pretty poorly. I should have caught on to the fact that she was the only one of us who understood the problem and just stopped interacting with the old man. If I were her and had been treated like that, I would have been pretty upset. "Ask me the questions - I'm the one with the answers". In my (slight) defense, the old man could have handed me off to her no problem with a simple "I can see that <name> knows what the problem is, I'll let you talk to her while I work on something else" and perhaps (my memory is not perfect) he tried something like that and I didn't catch on. Perhaps not.

So that's my story: A tiny sexist/ageist microaggression I committed because I didn't see clearly through my preconceptions. Of course the old guy behind the counter is going to know more about fixing engines than the young girl, right? And maybe he did - maybe he was training her, and if she had said something 'wrong' he would have corrected her. Maybe I would have done better if I hadn't been ticked off about and preoccupied by my truck problem. But really, I did her wrong by not recognizing her expertise.

Anybody have any similar stories?


南無阿弥陀仏!
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Microaggressions: Have you ever committed one? - 04/10/2017 06:42:55 PM 941 Views
Bah! - 04/10/2017 06:52:28 PM 501 Views
Confession is good for the soul - 04/10/2017 07:03:19 PM 447 Views
My memory sucks - 04/10/2017 06:57:31 PM 538 Views
Of course your memory sucks, ma'am - 04/10/2017 07:08:56 PM 558 Views
- 04/10/2017 07:14:29 PM 549 Views
Ok then, on second thought... - 04/10/2017 07:29:03 PM 395 Views
But, does that exist? - 04/10/2017 07:41:47 PM 532 Views
Re: But, does that exist? - 04/10/2017 07:51:44 PM 424 Views
I have this a lot. - 04/10/2017 11:35:08 PM 535 Views
People are hardwired to prejudge - 05/10/2017 04:01:34 AM 585 Views
We truly are. - 05/10/2017 11:00:33 AM 528 Views
Using suck as a negative term is a microagression against those of us who like to suck. - 04/10/2017 08:23:17 PM 489 Views
Calm down, Samantha! - 05/10/2017 10:58:31 AM 500 Views
*NM* - 05/10/2017 06:55:11 PM 266 Views
Maaaaaybeeeeee.......??? - 04/10/2017 08:26:45 PM 506 Views
Yes. Yeah... I think yes. - 04/10/2017 08:47:27 PM 492 Views
You have made elevators complicated. That isn't easy. *NM* - 05/10/2017 04:04:47 AM 266 Views
Hopefully, I commit them multiple times a day, every damn day - 04/10/2017 09:11:08 PM 462 Views
So I was not wrong to treat her like she couldn't do her job. - 04/10/2017 09:19:12 PM 450 Views
Oh the drama and the hyperbole! - 04/10/2017 11:11:36 PM 491 Views
Yeah, good luck with all that. *NM* - 04/10/2017 11:17:21 PM 313 Views
You can be such a little liar! - 05/10/2017 10:56:54 AM 465 Views
You're talking about two completely independent notions - 05/10/2017 02:05:44 PM 500 Views
Literally! - 05/10/2017 03:19:47 PM 509 Views
Yes, literally! - 05/10/2017 04:51:44 PM 491 Views
I've beaten the shit out of a few people in my day... - 04/10/2017 10:33:28 PM 472 Views
I laughed at a co-worker's assertion that "non-white people can't be racist". - 04/10/2017 11:23:35 PM 481 Views
Probably - 04/10/2017 11:27:29 PM 542 Views
I don't do well with that one... - 05/10/2017 12:39:32 AM 550 Views
I answered that I didn't like people and got the job. *NM* - 05/10/2017 04:08:08 AM 288 Views
I try and stick to macro aggression - 05/10/2017 03:56:25 AM 444 Views
I'm sure I have, though nothing springs to mind. It wouldn't, though, by definition. - 05/10/2017 09:56:08 AM 463 Views
I'm glad you said this - 05/10/2017 10:53:10 AM 500 Views
One presumes you could become aware later, as I did. *NM* - 05/10/2017 09:17:28 PM 231 Views
Being micro-agressed is a choice. - 06/10/2017 03:59:05 AM 537 Views
It's really not - 06/10/2017 11:45:40 AM 558 Views
I think you're both right - 06/10/2017 02:25:48 PM 536 Views
Re: I think you're both right - 06/10/2017 03:36:26 PM 475 Views
There is a difference. - 06/10/2017 05:45:33 PM 480 Views
It has become an oppressive tool of the culture of victimhood - 06/10/2017 07:32:36 PM 487 Views
As I said to Narg - 06/10/2017 07:54:50 PM 500 Views
We will have to agree to disagree. - 06/10/2017 08:21:25 PM 527 Views
I suppose so. - 06/10/2017 09:09:24 PM 454 Views
good thing - 06/10/2017 09:29:49 PM 482 Views
I was going for gold. - 06/10/2017 09:45:13 PM 454 Views
damn *NM* - 06/10/2017 09:29:49 PM 248 Views
I am 100% certain I never have - 07/10/2017 09:59:41 PM 498 Views

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