I am writing this blog with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.
I don't often think of myself as being a target of bigotry, and maybe I'm a little sheltered. However that image came shattering down today.
I was finishing up a diversity call while monitoring the phones at the office today. I noticed a call holding for a few minutes and noticed that one of the agents was on an intercom call speaking to one of the other girls in the back. I muted my call and called over to this girl and asked her to take the call. I overheard her say, "I gotta go, La Gorda wants me to take a call."
I don't speak a lot of Spanish, but I do know that La Gorda means "the fat one."
I literally saw red. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, my jaw clentched, my hands started to shake, tears welled in my eyes and my voice caught in my throat. The first thing I did was to confront the person in the back. I pulled her aside and told her I did not appreciate being called that. She said, "OK," and walked out of the conference room without any apology. I went back on to the reservations floor, and one of the other Team Leaders asked me what was going on. I filled her in, and she was as amazed and angry as I. We both pulled the agent in who said that, and again no apology. As she walked out of the conference room, she even chuckled like it was no big deal. We called her back in, and she gave some lame excuse that Latins come up with nicknames for each other.
My boss isn't in the office yet, but I did write an e-mail to her and this agent's leader. The sad part is, the second girl obviously knew who "La Gorda" was, so I have to wonder who else in the office calls me that. The funny part, if you can find a funny part, is the girl who called me this is at least as big as I am.
I'm calmer now. I did have a good cry over the phone with Don, who, as always, was supportive. I am trying with all my might to stay cool and collected (and not shoot the offending parties -- with an evil eye). I will demand this gets resolved immediately, and I am in support of putting these two on counseling (this is something pretty severe, and it the first step to getting fired). I will finish out the day with professionalism, even though all I want to do is run home and crawl into bed.
I don't often think of myself as being a target of bigotry, and maybe I'm a little sheltered. However that image came shattering down today.
I was finishing up a diversity call while monitoring the phones at the office today. I noticed a call holding for a few minutes and noticed that one of the agents was on an intercom call speaking to one of the other girls in the back. I muted my call and called over to this girl and asked her to take the call. I overheard her say, "I gotta go, La Gorda wants me to take a call."
I don't speak a lot of Spanish, but I do know that La Gorda means "the fat one."
I literally saw red. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, my jaw clentched, my hands started to shake, tears welled in my eyes and my voice caught in my throat. The first thing I did was to confront the person in the back. I pulled her aside and told her I did not appreciate being called that. She said, "OK," and walked out of the conference room without any apology. I went back on to the reservations floor, and one of the other Team Leaders asked me what was going on. I filled her in, and she was as amazed and angry as I. We both pulled the agent in who said that, and again no apology. As she walked out of the conference room, she even chuckled like it was no big deal. We called her back in, and she gave some lame excuse that Latins come up with nicknames for each other.
My boss isn't in the office yet, but I did write an e-mail to her and this agent's leader. The sad part is, the second girl obviously knew who "La Gorda" was, so I have to wonder who else in the office calls me that. The funny part, if you can find a funny part, is the girl who called me this is at least as big as I am.
I'm calmer now. I did have a good cry over the phone with Don, who, as always, was supportive. I am trying with all my might to stay cool and collected (and not shoot the offending parties -- with an evil eye). I will demand this gets resolved immediately, and I am in support of putting these two on counseling (this is something pretty severe, and it the first step to getting fired). I will finish out the day with professionalism, even though all I want to do is run home and crawl into bed.
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