Corndogs + Avocados

This last August Darin said he was taking me somewhere and it was a surprise.  Yippee!  A B&B with massage and bon bons!  Or a camping/kayaking trip!  Or Peru!  When I found out it was Utah to hang out I totally lectured him on how going to a place to visit family is absolutely wonderful but does not constitute a surprise when it is something that we do all the time.  It’s a hard lecture to deliver because I wanted him to know without a doubt that I love visiting his family and this time some of mine (usually Utah means Jensen tribal activities).  But I also wanted to make sure that he never used the word “surprise” in the future unless it meant a romantic getaway to a place we’ve never been, or a new kayak, or a puppy, or aliens landed, or he came into a crazy amount of money.  You know, something out of the ordinary.  Not, ‘hey - you need to get yourself to the airport tomorrow somehow since I can’t give you a ride.’

I spent a lot of time figuring out how to word it and tried carefully to deliver it just right.

It still sounded like a lecture.

Darin took it pretty well though.  The next morning he said, “So, just to make sure I understand correctly, I should only use the word surprise in conjunction with something that is designed strictly with my wife’s interests in mind or a trip to a place that we don’t usually go to.  So, out of the ordinary.”

“Yes.  Thank you Darin.  I love you!”

So we went to Utah and had a fabulous time romping around with nieces and nephews, eating loads, sitting around, talking for hours.  Good times.  Still not a surprise, but I was thrilled none the less.

Little did I know that everyone we visited spent the whole week lying to me.

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This morning I noticed two employees wearing “No on Prop 8″ buttons. Up to this point my office has been fairly free of politics (except for one employee who has a picture of Nancy Pelosi in her cubicle). However, since the election is coming up the rhetoric surrounding Prop 8 has intensified and employees have started wearing their views for all to see.

I sent the following email to my manager, the company president, and the CFO:

From: Darin Jensen
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 9:31 AM
To: [names removed]
Subject: Advertising political views in the office

Good morning,

I’m not trying to be difficult but I see employees wearing prop 8 buttons in the office today. I am uncomfortable with employees advertising their political views in the office. It was my understanding that the office is meant to be a political neutral zone.

Tks,

Darin

My supervisor responded immediately by taking me aside in a private room and advising he agrees with me but unfortunately it’s very difficult to keep political propaganda—such as a button—out of the office, and it’s unlikely anything will be done about it.

I was disappointed to hear this but not entirely surprised.

UPDATE: I met with a member of management later in the day and was told the company does not allow company systems such as email to be used for political purposes but the company does not dictate what empoyees can or cannot wear on their clothing. Thus, political buttons are okay whether or not such buttons make me or any other employee uncomfortable. I was actually told that I am likely in the minority in the office on this issue and simply need adjust to that reality. I was surprised to hear this as up to this point management has been very neutral regarding similar issues. Earlier in the year we had an employee sending around anti-Christian emails and management put a stop to it right away. I guess I was hoping management would send around an email asking employees not to wear political propaganda or bring it to work out of respect for those who may have different views.

I am dismayed because I would never wear a “Yes on 8″ button to the office—even though I fervently support California’s proposition 8—because I have gay coworkers and would not want them to feel threatened or uncomfortable around me. However, it seems others feel differently. I still firmly believe there is no place in the workplace for politics.

The other day when Darin and I went to the de Young museum in SF, before he took all those incredible photos of the Papua New Guinea collection, we got to see a group from New Zealand perform a number of Maori songs & dances.

I love this song. Can we do a family song like this? It sounds like “welcome home!” to me.

We were told that this haka was addressing the god of thunder, earthquakes and… love making. So if any of the women in the audience were drawn to the dance of one of the men she should come forward in order to marry and become part of the family. Look out!

Over the weekend Darin and I searched for hakas on youtube and watched them for hours, especially NZ’s rugby team, the All Blacks. Maybe I should have the girls do one of these before our church basketball game this Saturday. What do you think?