There
are far too many things in life that we mortals take for granted. Whether it be
health or the amity of good friends, we seldom realize their value until after
they have left our keeping. And then, we start yearning for what has been lost.
Sometimes, we’re lucky to gain it back. Sometimes, we’re not so blessed.
I've recently changed jobs. This entails meeting new people, forming new
friendships, meeting new deadlines… the usual. In my previous workplace, I had
made friends with the most amazing group of people. A group of friends that
feels more like family… and just as close! If I had my way, I would bring them
all with me wherever I went… working with them for a lower pay if need be.
But
with the old company closing down its projects and my position as a language
specialist hanging in the balance, I didn't have the luxury of a choice. And
that is how I found myself in the new place.
The work
is the same, voluminous if anything. But that hardly deters me. I love what I
do and if there is one trait I've inherited from my mother, it is to work hard
on the things I love.
Now
you may wonder, my dearest reader as to what it was that I missed.
Friends.
True
Friends.
Friends
who have my back. Friends who don’t have an agenda of their own. Friends who’re
good at heart.
The
people I see here in the new office (except a few… like my fellow translators)
are the type I normally abhor. With absolutely no regard for another soul,
their daily lives seem to pass away in plastic smiles and self-important
pompousness. And the worst sort of misogyny I've ever had to face!
Their
thinly veiled slurs at women they hardly know, grates my nerves so much that
sometimes, it takes all my resolve not to punch a few of these people in their
noses. The other day, I heard that they had coined a name for me as well… a
name that was coined the first day I walked into that office… for my interview.
Perhaps the fact that they did not know me seemed to embolden them to pass
sexist comments at my expense. I guess a few would tell me I'm overreacting
here… boys being boys or whatever! But I cannot see it in that light and you will
excuse my obstinacy in this.
All
this while, I've been friends with men who’re nothing less than perfect
gentlemen. They don’t pass comments about the women that pass them by. They don’t
stare at women as though they’re looking at some hitherto unknown creature. And
they sure as hell don’t give women weird sexist names behind their backs!
And
to make things worse, the other women these pathetic excuses of men are friends
with seem to think they’re safe. All they need to do is turn my way to see how
wrong they are.
If
they could make such comments about me, there is absolutely no saying that they
haven’t done the same about them, if only within themselves… it’s a very sorry
business.
And every day I walk into my new office, I let out a sigh thinking
about the old place where all that awaited me was work and sincere smiles…
here, in every word is sheathed an inner meaning…. In every smile, there’s a
tinge of scorn and in every gaze, thoughts I wouldn't dare describe!
The only saving grace is knowing that these people would never be anything more than colleagues and I still have amazing friends in life... the kind that these men would never get or understand!
