The Grey Work Uniform, And A Tool Belt
I have slipped up and told a couple of coworkers that I have a blog, but I will not tell them its internet address. This is a private blog and I don’t want people who actually know me to discover too many intimate details concerning my life. I prefer the way things are now, which is; no one reading my blog, rather than the wrong people reading it. However, I did send a coworker a copy of my last blog entry that concerned rehiring an employee named Bernie. She then told me that another good blog entry might come from a workplace event, or rather a [I]non[/I]-event from a few weeks ago. I think she might be right, so what follows is a telling of that non-event. I should add that there is a significant personal element to the story that should be self-evident.
To begin, I am in a very wonderful romantic relationship with a great guy. The relationship is now several months old. I have no qualms there. But when I first moved to Yuma and started my current job about a year ago, I was asked out by a guy from my workplace, his name was Kevin. Kevin was, and still is, the facility maintenance man. For some reason he is the only person in the facility who wears a grey-colored work uniform, all others wear either a green uniform, or regular clothing, depending on their job post. Kevin is of average height, slightly overweight and best I can tell, in his early 30s, or a few years older than me. I initially saw Kevin perhaps a week after my first day on the job. He was fixing a drinking fountain in the corridor right outside my office. A week or so later he replaced two flickering lights on my office ceiling. I remember that we talked and exchanged a few silly jokes while we were in the same room. Kevin seemed like a nice guy.
One day Kevin knocked on my opened door and I asked him to come in. He calmly inquired if I would be interested in “grabbing a drink” sometime after work. The offer came as a complete surprise but I was able to regain my [COLOR=#333333]presence[/COLOR] [COLOR=#333333]of[/COLOR] [COLOR=#333333]mind fairly quickly. I told Kevin that I was flattered but that I was going to pass. He nodded and then said something like, “I just thought I’d ask.” He then turned and walked out. I have never been given an easier time rejecting a man’s overture and ironically, I really felt very obliged to Kevin for making it so painless. He was a gentleman about it.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]I did not accept Kevin’s offer partly because at the time I had just left a previous relationship and did not feel like being too social quite yet. I had actually received a similar proposal a week or two earlier and I had declined that one too. Had that reason not existed, I probably would have hesitated to accept Kevin’s invitation because he was technically my employee, and certain circumstances could result in workplace difficulties. But, truth be told, perhaps the biggest reason was that I simply did not find him interesting. I think I saw him as just this friendly guy in a gray uniform who wore a tool belt. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]I have seen Kevin many times since, and we have always been friendly and polite to each other. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]A few weeks ago one of the department truck drivers had a birthday. On that morning he invited almost all of the facility’s blue collar workers to a pizza lunch to be held at a nearby restaurant. In fact, all of blue collar employees were invited except for one man who is openly gay. Like everywhere else, bigotry exists in Yuma, unfortunately. Of course departmental policy can say nothing about who an employee can, or cannot, invite to a private function. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]Kevin was one of the persons invited, but that morning when he heard that the gay employee was not invited, Kevin informed the party host that he, Kevin, was also not going to be attending the lunch. As the morning went on, more and more of the invited employees retracted their acceptance to the lunch invitation. It seems that everyone heard of Kevin’s action, and had subsequently followed suit. By noon, the pizza luncheon had been cancelled due to disinterest. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]It became quite a story around the facility. According to one employee who I talked to, “Kevin is kind of [B][I]the man[/I][/B], and when he takes a stand it usually means something.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]As a personal footnote, I will say that hindsight is 20/20, but now these months later I have to admit that I kind of regret not grabbing that drink with Kevin. I have learned that there is definitely more to him than a grey work uniform and a tool belt. As a woman who spent three years in a relationship with a self-employed handyman, an [I]amicable[/I], [I]highly intelligent [/I]self-employed handyman, I should have known better. [/COLOR]
To begin, I am in a very wonderful romantic relationship with a great guy. The relationship is now several months old. I have no qualms there. But when I first moved to Yuma and started my current job about a year ago, I was asked out by a guy from my workplace, his name was Kevin. Kevin was, and still is, the facility maintenance man. For some reason he is the only person in the facility who wears a grey-colored work uniform, all others wear either a green uniform, or regular clothing, depending on their job post. Kevin is of average height, slightly overweight and best I can tell, in his early 30s, or a few years older than me. I initially saw Kevin perhaps a week after my first day on the job. He was fixing a drinking fountain in the corridor right outside my office. A week or so later he replaced two flickering lights on my office ceiling. I remember that we talked and exchanged a few silly jokes while we were in the same room. Kevin seemed like a nice guy.
One day Kevin knocked on my opened door and I asked him to come in. He calmly inquired if I would be interested in “grabbing a drink” sometime after work. The offer came as a complete surprise but I was able to regain my [COLOR=#333333]presence[/COLOR] [COLOR=#333333]of[/COLOR] [COLOR=#333333]mind fairly quickly. I told Kevin that I was flattered but that I was going to pass. He nodded and then said something like, “I just thought I’d ask.” He then turned and walked out. I have never been given an easier time rejecting a man’s overture and ironically, I really felt very obliged to Kevin for making it so painless. He was a gentleman about it.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]I did not accept Kevin’s offer partly because at the time I had just left a previous relationship and did not feel like being too social quite yet. I had actually received a similar proposal a week or two earlier and I had declined that one too. Had that reason not existed, I probably would have hesitated to accept Kevin’s invitation because he was technically my employee, and certain circumstances could result in workplace difficulties. But, truth be told, perhaps the biggest reason was that I simply did not find him interesting. I think I saw him as just this friendly guy in a gray uniform who wore a tool belt. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]I have seen Kevin many times since, and we have always been friendly and polite to each other. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]A few weeks ago one of the department truck drivers had a birthday. On that morning he invited almost all of the facility’s blue collar workers to a pizza lunch to be held at a nearby restaurant. In fact, all of blue collar employees were invited except for one man who is openly gay. Like everywhere else, bigotry exists in Yuma, unfortunately. Of course departmental policy can say nothing about who an employee can, or cannot, invite to a private function. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]Kevin was one of the persons invited, but that morning when he heard that the gay employee was not invited, Kevin informed the party host that he, Kevin, was also not going to be attending the lunch. As the morning went on, more and more of the invited employees retracted their acceptance to the lunch invitation. It seems that everyone heard of Kevin’s action, and had subsequently followed suit. By noon, the pizza luncheon had been cancelled due to disinterest. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]It became quite a story around the facility. According to one employee who I talked to, “Kevin is kind of [B][I]the man[/I][/B], and when he takes a stand it usually means something.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]As a personal footnote, I will say that hindsight is 20/20, but now these months later I have to admit that I kind of regret not grabbing that drink with Kevin. I have learned that there is definitely more to him than a grey work uniform and a tool belt. As a woman who spent three years in a relationship with a self-employed handyman, an [I]amicable[/I], [I]highly intelligent [/I]self-employed handyman, I should have known better. [/COLOR]
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