Something happened today which I think will unfortunately affect my relationship with my new office mate. I know I don't need to have anything other than a working relationship with her, but let's face it: I like to chat about the news and politics. I don't need or want everyone to always agree with me, but I expect the level of discourse to be up to par. So. Behold:
I had to show ID at three different checkpoints in order to get into my office building today. There were more people in general and more security than last year. I didn't mind the inconveniences. Clearly, it's not a day to complain about the minutia of your own life. I had a 10 am deposition at the office, but because of the ceremony and resultant mass of people literally 15 feet from my building (the area for the families is separated from the area where the general public could be), the other parties were somewhat delayed getting through and getting upstairs. So I'm sitting there in the office chatting with Office Mate about how many people are outside. She says, and I quote: "Why are they even here? They're all foreigners - why do they even care?"
Breathe.
Me: "Uh, what do you mean? How could you know that at all?"
OM: "Oh I overheard a lot of them talking and, you know, just by looking at them."
Sigh.
That was the majority of our conversation for the rest of the day.
I emailed one of my best friends about it later on, and because she's awesome, here's part of her response:
whoa, WHAT? i'm glad you emailed me bc i was actually going to email you and ask how it was down there today, but WHAT?! first of all, her question is like asking why people who weren't personally affected by the holocaust visit auschwitz. um, they're there because it's a historical day/place and they're in the city and they're paying their goddamn respects and they want to experience it and be a part of it. second, by her logic, wtf does SHE care? does she have some personal tie to the attacks? it's like those people in the middle of missouri who have those goddamn stupid "never forget" bumper stickers. yes, as americans, we all experienced the effect of 9/11 to some degree, whether it's as little as your experience going through the shitshow that is airplane security nowadays or as great as the fact that you were actually fucking there (in WTC, or you, or my friend [X]). bc the people with closer ties to the attacks obviously felt/the effects deeper, how can you try to characterize or judge anyone's reaction or feelings about the attacks? it's unfair and everyone's allowed to feel exactly how they want to feel. it's a fucking tragedy. it's also retarded to think that it didn't affect people outside of america too--world's greatest superpower attacked on its own soil? helLOo, it's a big deal. slash, were these "foreigners" americans speaking another language (shock! we have a few of those in nyc!) or foreign nationals?
you didn't tell me she self-identifies as conservative. which is fine (i'm dating one! liberals are tolerant of conservatives!). but given the level of your interaction and the kind of relationship you have (pretty purely professional), it's inappropriate to talk about shit like that at work. you need to shut her down (nicely) if she brings it up again.
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So. We'll see. For now, I'm wary.
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