I’m aware that it’s standard practice for the Department of Transportation to prune tree branches to keep them from interfering with power lines. In city limits in the south, it’s nothing to see trees that are full of life on one side while on the opposite side, all that is there are dead knotholes where branches once gave life to green.
On my run this morning, I couldn’t help but notice this gnarly, old tree that was pruned almost twenty feet away from the power lines. This saddened me deeply – not because I’m some sympathetic treehugger but because the thought of this tree being pruned to prevent its proximity to power lines is akin to some pruning that I’ve experienced in the corporate world. In my skin, I have to work harder than, be smarter than, and sacrifice more than. I’m just saying.
Katina says:
Well WELL Bivins…your mind “went there” today eh? All too true (what you talk about) and I could even add a few things to that ugly truth you were reminded of today…but don’t want to open a can of worms. There wouldn’t be anything aMUSING about that :/
Katina says:
Wellllllllllllllll, you asked for it…
Sacrifice more than:
This “pruning” process means pruning any and all ethnic appearances. In the corporate world you have to look a certain way, and for people who are not in “that group” (the one that set the standards) or in the other group (the one that accepts and loves the standards) then they fall into the third group. The gotta-give-it-up group. There is always the option NOT to sacrifice (one’s resolve would be respected) but that move would guarantee a position no closer than 20 feet away from the “power lines”.
Work harder than:
Cultural differences, they COULD interfere with a person’s merit for a promotion, because at the end of the day if you and a peer are equally qualified for a promotion,the person likely to get promoted is the person with whom the boss/manager/whatever most relates to culturally. So in order to stand out (aside from being the cultural odd ball), you’ve got to work your a** off… make your candidacy indisputable.
Be smarter than:
Yeah. Don’t make a mistake or it’s your head on a platter. Coincidence that the rules are the rules when it comes to you, but exceptions are made for others….perhaps…perhaps not.
The corporate world has a very VERY narrow mold and many people would break themselves to fit in it. I know you made reference to the skin you’re in, but I see where it goes past that. Free spirits don’t fit in that mold, foreigners don’t fit in that mold, ETHICS don’t fit in that mold…there is just a lot of things that blossom else where, but are pruned to death to preserve “power lines”.
But hey…quit bringing up heavy topics like this to conceal the fact that you really ARE tree-hugging hippie 😛
kenn says:
PLEASE, open the can.
Renee says:
He did ask for it, Katina.
My mom always taught me that I have three strikes against me in the real world before I even open my mouth.
1. I’m black.
2. I’m a woman.
3. I’m an immigrant.
So, if three strikes means you’re out, then I’m out before the game even begins. She went on to say that I will ALWAYS have to work harder, be smarter and out-play everyone in the game to get anywhere. I took her advice and got pretty far in life until I started my first reporting gig in Charleston, South Carolina of all places on earth. FYI– Charleston was the point of access for almost all slaves in the United States. That’s where they shipped them in, sold them and put them to work. Some three hundred years later, there may as well be slave ships still anchored off Sullivans Island.
Despite being smarter, working harder and kicking ass, I was always left behind. The only reason I could surmise is because of the color of my skin and my gender: two things I cannot and would not change if I could.
People less talented than me got promoted before me. When I asked why, I got BS explanations. My favorite “explanation” was that management did not like the way the newscasts “looked.” Basically, too many black folk on air at one time.
It took me a long time to realize that this was the game my mom was talking about the entire time. We, as black people, are constantly fighting for position and at the end of the day it is all a game. We’ll win some and we’ll lose some. All we can do is be smarter, work harder and hope that one day we’ll see some results that we can be proud of.
Renee says:
Oh…and he is a tree-hugging hippie. I have the pictures to prove it.