Socking It!

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Interestingly, there’s little evidence of individual political interests among my several hundred co-employees. Many have visible tattoos illustrating their affinities for nature, wildlife, and such, but none particularly are controversial.

I’ve considered this while rummaging mentally about wearing my favorite pair of socks to work. Each sock’s top sports a clear image of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s face. She’s one of my favorite public figures and her image suggests my political learnings. I love the socks but haven’t worn them to work. Recently, I realized that such caution is wise.

I work with a woman who has an admirable understanding of the construction industry. She is able to weld, grade classes of wood, and can comprehend more construction-related technicalities than women in general. She explains that her dad had managed a welding company and got her started welding when she was a small child. He emphasized attention to technology and safety and always supported her. She became adept with skills that led her, on turning twenty, to join the military. There she spent a couple of years before becoming pregnant, a condition that in those days forced her to retire. Her skills and knowledge had lifted her from the rank of Private to that of Master Sargeant.

I have admired all that, but this week working more closely alongside her got an earful of her politics and world views. They’re draconian! She’s a solid Trumpian, believes the world is close to collapsing, saves fresh water, and stocks long-shelf-life foods. She loves her many guns; doesn’t hunt with them but goes out and shoots.

I listened not feeling completely astonished but disappointed, to learn where her working skills journey had taken her, politically and socially. At least, my socks didn’t initiate her disclosures. Maybe she was curious about my personal world-related views, but I never opened my mouth. I did, however, grasp the value of not wearing my RGB socks to work.

Dear Friends: The 3,300 cells in our brains guide us on unique life journeys. Diana