Orwell, today's nostradamus.

Finally, something I am annoyed enough about to post about... So, a month or so ago, I put a "Kerry Edwards" bumper sticker outside my cube. It is not huge secret that I support them, and I figured that I would do a little something to get in peoples faces about the upcoming election. Initially, no one seemed to mind. My two immediate supervisers commented on it, and after chastising me a little, said I should leave it up. They obviously agreed with the sentiment. They did warn me however, of the one guy who might give me shit about it... A devout republican. For the next few weeks, people seemed to take notice that I was politically aware and ask me what I thought of the debates or whatever. That was great... Exactly the kind of reaction I wanted. Then some manager lady, who I had only met once or twice and isn't even my boss, told me I should take it down. "I support Kerry too" she said, "but the workplace is no place for politics". NO PLACE FOR POLITICS? Politics determine whether our jobs will be outsourced to Cambodia, how much we get paid, whether our social security deductions will actually be there when we retire, and whether we are all alive to come to work... I think this is the perfect place for politics. Anyway, not wanting to piss anyone of more than necessary, and figuring my little sticker had had a nice run, I complied, and instead stuck the sticker inside my cube, where I could proudly glance upon my political statement, but it wouldn't harm anyone. Later that day, the guy I had been warned about, who may be offended by my sticker, stopped by and asked what happened to it. I explained and he sympathized with me that they shouldn't have made me take it down, and then we had a nice little political discussion in which we starkly disagreed, but were able to be civil about it, like normal human beings. After this, I felt a little better about the whole thing as I had gotten support from the "enemy". I eventually put another sticker on my white board, which is sort of visible from outside, but not nearly as obvious as the original location. Today, my supervisor, who is British, and a little of a cutup himself, stopped by and took my sticker and placed it back in the original location. I told him not to do that since I had been yelled at, to which he replied that he knew and had yelled at the woman who had yelled at me. He did move it back to its hidden location, but seemed annoyed that I had had to move it. Then, this afternoon, another co worker stopped by and told me I should not post political things in the office. Thinking he must be referring to the firefox poster I have still on the outside of my cube, I said "thats not really political" but it turned out he was talking about my barely visible Kerry stickers. He went on some tirade about how I had to still work after this election is over and how I don't know the leanings of my managers and blah blah blah. He said he's not a citizen but he hopes to be someday, and he has political views which he keeps quiet at work, and that I should too. So, a little dejected, and being the pussy I am, I removed the semi visible sticker to an almost invisible location... I figure I'll keep moving it to a more and more obscure location and wait for a complaint each time.


Anyway. This is fucking retarded. If I put up an American flag or a yellow ribbon, or a "Never forget 911" poster, no one would dare question it. How is this less patriotic? How is this any more politically motived or biased? We live in America, and the most iportant right we have is to political dissent and most people seem to be afraid of it. Have we slipped into such an Orwellian state that it is a threat to ever question the status quo or step out of the ordinary for a bit? We are only a few weeks from what is arguably most important election, the most important choice, of our lives. Yet we are discouraged from trying to talk about it. We are told not to spread our opinions. I don't fucking care whether my managers are democrats or republicans or Nazis or whigs. I have my opinions, and I want to share them. I want to sway people, or at least get in their face enough to make them think about the issues. But yet, the work place, where most of us spend most of our times, where most of us go to pursue the American dream, is no place to talk about this stuff. It is no place to be an American.

of course, being a cynic, I actually find this more amusing than disturbing, but it does kind of annoy me. Oh, and by the way, they now have signs in the hallway reminding us to vote... But yet we cant put up signs regarding who we want to vote for.... Stupid apolitical ignorant society.