I noticed something new in an email signature I haven't seen before, in an email I received from an employee of a company my company does business with. After her name the person put in parenthesis (she/her). This "wokeness" has become ridiculous. Like I said to my dd, when asking her if she's seen anything like this yet, "I don't care if you are it/he/she/they, just do your job and process my PO" LOL.
My mom did mention her boyfriend yesterday, but she forgot his name, LOL. She just referred to him as her friend was coming over in a bit to watch some tv after dinner. I asked who (wondering if it was him) and she like oh the guy I met, I don't say his name often enough, I can't remember his name right now. I'm glad she has someone to pass some time with. Before that she was visiting off and on with her neighbor lady across the hall, but last time I was at my mom's she mentioned she had been gone a week or so, in the hospital.
I finally didn't have to log down any gun shots yesterday (Mr. Neighbor had asked me to keep track). I was gone for about 45 minutes during his peak time, but dh was outside working so he would have definitely heard, if there were. Still crickets from the shooter down river.
It pretty much felt like old days going into town yesterday. Lots of traffic (well, for a town of 800 LOL), the restaurant parking lot full, the hotel lot pretty full. No masks required (we also have had zero active cases for awhile now). DH had put a huge garbage bag of pop cans in the back of my car for me to drop off. There is a house in town that takes them, but as I pulled up, she had a big sign on her fence that said no longer accepting aluminum. Dang. We have been dropping them off there a couple times a year for the past 4 years. I did some looking and there is a small recycling center just on the other side of town that is open 2 days a week to take recyclables, so probably just start using that.
DH finally worked on something yesterday. There is a big rock in our driveway island that he wanted moved over a bit. Too big for him to move by hand. It took a bit of work to get it moved. He had his quad with the snow plow on front trying to push it. No luck. Then he had me get on the quad and he used a big crow bar and got it underneath while I pushed with the quad. Finally, it started moving. He's also figuring something out to help keep our new patio table planted when it's windy out. I'm not exactly sure what he's doing but sounds like he's going to make his own umbrella base out of concrete and then also anchor underneath the table to it somehow.
The first week of the month I'm always needing to get checks out to my mailbox, reimbursing side job employees for their expenses and auto allowance. I need to get another one out this morning, before the mail carrier comes.
Recognizing a human being by their preferred pronouns might seem ridiculous to you, but for a person whose existence and right to feel that they belong, it is a big deal. Seeing that they have ally's that will support, accept, and not judge is important.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just not woke enough. If someone who needs to clarify what they are feels the need to put that on their signature, then by all means, they should do so, but are you doing it? That's my point, the person who's signature it was attached to's choice of pronoun has never been in question. I see absolutely no reason that I need to put that on my signature line, because .06% of the population wants to use something different. My cousin said she has now been in meetings where's she's asked to identify her preference at the start of the meeting. So, now are we all supposed to have/remember some master list of who's what when we are emailing and talking with others? I'm sorry, if I'm emailing my boss to ask her if Joe wants to use his PTO time for a day of, I'm going to say "I see Joe didn't clock in Friday, do you know if he wants to use his PTO?" I'm not going to type he/she. Or is that what I'm supposed to do now, if I don't know for sure what Joe prefers?
Deleteit isn't about being woke. It is just about supporting people and letting them knw you're an ally or you understand they want to identify is x y or z. If Joe goes by Joe, use that. If you see the name changes, use the new name, or the pronoun is they vs he or she, use that? Otherwise you don't need to add it to your email signature or kinda make fun of folks who do that.
Deletei have a cousin who has transitioned. i want life to be easier for them, not harder - it isn't hard to just observe and if someone's pronouns changes, or name changes, follow suit.
I have zero problem of using she if Joe decided to change to Jill. No, it's not hard to observe and be respectful of someone's changes. But, what reason does someone who is not wanting to identify as something different, needing to put in in their signature line for?
DeleteIt's a personal choice to include as part of a signature. It has no direct impact on how someone identifies me, but I am aware of someone that uses "she", that someone might think of as "he", and someone who uses "they", but did not change their name, from what might have been assumed a female name. My response was to your original statements in your post about why would someone not LBGTQ also include their pronoun preference. It is to show my support, and I have participate din settings where as part of introductions, that is shared if the person choses to, and have heard feedback that it meant acceptance. It is your choice to not include, and you are entitled to feel it is not necessary. I'm not arguing, just responding to my why.
DeleteYeah, it is just to show support; it shows people that you understand the importance of preferred pronouns. Lots of companies/folks have been doing it in solidarity!
DeleteEchoing Sam, to say it's to show support. I imagine if you were named something perceived as masculine, say, for instance, "Tarl," you might feel differently, as the risk of being mis-gendered by email only associates would be high. Moreover, your prediction that only 0.06% of the population does not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, incidentally, is off. It's closer to 3%, and as that's a self reported number, that's probably low, considering the discrimination, violence, and hatred transgender people face. Just recently, the Governor of Arkansas signed a law basically codifying medical discrimination against LGBTQ people. I sometimes wonder what century we are when I read the news...
DeleteThat said, like Practical Parsimony, I cringe when a plural pronoun is used to modify a singular subject. An example is, "Your student should have you sign their reading form nightly." The proper pronoun is his, or, in the interest of inclusivity, his/her. I was especially galled that this was a consistent error made by our elementary school's reading facilitator. My other pet peeve is using the word "myself" when the antecedent is not "I." For example, "If you would like to talk to your child's teacher or myself, please don't hesitate to email." (Yes, same offender.)
The notice could say, "sign the reading form" or "sign your child's reading form." There is no need for any pronoun for the child's gender!
DeleteSomehow, I think people believe using the word "myself" instead of "me" makes them sound more learned. Teeheehee.
DeleteI don't see the necessity of including a personal pronoun. But, if someone does, I have no problem. However, I refuse to use plural pronoun, "them," when a single pronoun is proper! I will use she/he if necessary.
ReplyDelete