Let's Talk Politics...rather, let's not, and say we did...

I have been working for the same company for almost eight years. I started my employment in May of 1999. I love what I do, and the people I work with. I would still change one thing about where I work. I have a co-worker who truly believes that no one else can think for themselves, or make their own decisions regarding politics.

Why politics was even brought into the work place I have yet to understand. Personally, I am not of the thinking that religion, or politics is something that needs to be discussed at work. The two topics are destined to come up once in a great while, as I have always known they would, and I am quite capable of letting it slide or to let the conversation play itself out. I usually don't mind hearing another person speak of why they like this candidate, or that one, around election time. Sometimes I even enjoy it. I may even voice a few of my own thoughts once in a while, but for the most part, I tend to play the listener. It is much safer that way.

With that being said, my number one rule is respect. No one has to agree with my opinion or like it. I have never required this of anyone. All I have ever asked for is that others respect that I have an opinion. This sometimes means that people, myself included, have to agree to disagree and simply move on to a new topic when the current topic is causing tension. This is especially true in the work place.

That would seem simple enough to most, but in the case of my co-worker this is a foreign concept. It is her belief that opinions different than hers are wrong. I can live with her believing that my opinion is wrong except when she insists on trying to change my opinion. She won't let bygones be bygones, and move on.

As many of you know, presidential elections come around every four years. In November of the year 2000 George W. Bush was elected president of the United States. Since that time I have been forced to listen to her rant, rave, belittle, make fun of, and carry on about how evil, bad, unintelligent, and corrupt this man is. Despite all of the "flaws" she has pointed out, he was re-elected in 2004 for another four year term. She has continued her rants, but the frequency of her political spouting has only worsened.

Regardless of who I voted for, and whether or not anyone else agrees with my choice, this behavior is not acceptable in the workplace. She can vote the way she chooses, and I can vote the way I choose. Neither one of us should have to go to work and be subjected to this type of recurring behavior. After years of suffering through countless orations by my co-worker I finally decided that something needed to be done to maintain my sanity.

After confronting her, and making no ground in my fight to knock her off her political soapbox, I spoke to my supervisor. My supervisor understood where I was coming from, and had a talk with her, but the behavior seemed to worsen none the less. One afternoon, during one of her speeches, I informed my co-worker that this was Bush's last term, and that I hoped she would be able to focus her energies on her work better once someone else was in office, as voicing her political views was not in her job description. This angered her, and after she said a few very childish things our supervisor asked us both to drop it and return to work. I returned to my seat while she continued to mutter under her breath. I immediately turned to my friend the internet, and brought up Google. I searched the net for work place harassment laws. I found what I was looking for in a matter of seconds, and sent both my co-worker and our supervisor a link to the web page.

Things have been much quieter since, and a more official variation of these has now been posted in the break rooms.

If you care to read up on these laws, and I suggest all employees do so, you can find them at:

http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/harass/breadth.htm

In closing, respect others and their thoughts and opinions. You don't have to agree, but you have to respect that they are capable of thinking for themselves. Some choose not to think or put much thought into things, but that is still their decision to make. If you feel you have an obligation to voice your thoughts on the matter, do so, but with respect, and do it only once. If you lack respect for the opinions of those you are talking to, or feel you have to carry on about it for the next four to eight years, you may find that by aggravating the person whose mind you are trying to change, you may only make them want to do the opposite just to spite you.