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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13750
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For fun I am a member of a small team of volunteers who work for a harbour and patrol it in a small boat. The harbour provides the boat, and the water to play on. We are, broadly, leaderless, and self governing, though not rudderless. Today I made the suggestion that we all, each of us, at the end of a patrol, spend five minutes cleaning the boat down before putting it away. I am new to the group, and, by this simple request, kicked a nest of hornets. If I lived in the USA I have little doubt that one would shoot me if he could. I have received vitriol, false accusations and a wholly unpleasant set of nastiness from the long established members of the group.
From the newer members, the story is different. They think the idea has merit. One has offered to come and clean it with me, specially.
The group is. mostly, male. I have received no feedback from the females, just from a load of wannabe alpha males. And their reaction was a foot stamping queen-like hissy fit.
It's going to be fun when they use google and find out that I am not heterosexual! I think I may start a discrimination action. We may be volunteers, but the term is Voluntary Employee, something lost on the older members.
I thought of this place. Here we welcome new folk, though we don't get that many.
I thought of Wikipedia, where the new editor has to hit the ground knowing all policies and gets all sorts of hassle if they don;t get it right first time
I thought of school, with cliques and nastiness
I thought of employment and jobs with bosses who are good, or not, and who can bully, or not, depending upon how good they are
We, the volunteers, ought to be a happy and cohesive whole, united by a common purpose. Clearly we are not. But why not?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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