Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Working in a Diverse Workplace

. Wednesday, November 29, 2006

One of the unexpected perks working at my current job is enjoying the diversity of people. First off, there's a pretty diverse representation of the major races here - White, Black, Indian (the country), Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern. There are a fair number of people originally from other countries as well - Russia, Germany, Malaysia, India, Argentina, Serbia, Turkey, and West Virginia just to name the ones that immediately come to mind. I'm sure there's quite a variety of religions represented here given the diversity of people described above. It's natural that working on a daily basis with these people that we become friends and we talk about things besides work. I love learning about other cultures so I love to hear Lyuda or Zarina talk about life in Communist Russia for example. It's also interesting to talk about univeral issues such as child rearing. Lyuda and I talk a lot about my son and how we raise him. She shares with me how she raised her two daughters, and it's neat how many issues are the same no matter where you're from. Another thing I've enjoyed is working with a wide range of ages. There are "kids" fresh out of school and some old grizzled veterans who have been fighting in the trenches for dozens of years longer than I have.

I wish more people can experience this diversity because I think it would go a long way towards making this world a better place to live in. Growing up in CNY, I was never really exposed to any diversity. There was only one black kid in my graduating class and he was only one of probably less than ten in my entire high school. Because of this lack of exposure to other groups of people, I would feel uneasy around them later in life. It certainly wasn't racism, but it was hard to look at a black person and not think in my head "this is a black person." I'm finding that the more I am exposed to them, the less things like race and religion seem to matter. And those things shouldn't matter.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

West Virginia! HAHAHH! Ok. I couldn't read the rest of that because that was too funny. ;-) I'll now go back and read more. Amanda...if you're reading this....love ya! Ignore him. ;-) hehehehe.

Anonymous said...

Ok, read it. And you're right....those things should not matter. People are people.

Anonymous said...

Same where I work, and I love it.

I grew up too, rural school, like one or two black families in the district, depending on the year. I don't remember anyone who was anything else, like Indian or Latino, etc. That was it. The rest all white. The senior class had like 70 kids. Mostly farmers. lol

It's so much more fun and interesting with a diverse population! It's fascinating talking to people who are different than you. :)

-gwen