Work Life – Page 2 – The Office Black Girl

Office Black Girl Moments: Gifting Games

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It is a true skill to convince people that your backward way of thinking is acceptable. Yesterday, I got to witness this skill at my own expense.

I have read stories of servers having their tips taken by owners of restaurants. While that is a terrible practice, I was surprised to find myself in a similar situation working in an office setting.

At the beginning of the holiday season, my coworker informed me that if I received a gift as a worker for the company, I was supposed to turn it over to the owner. I didn’t think much of it because I had just started working for the company and didn’t think anyone would be gifting me anything.

But I did find the thought process behind it ridiculous. I was told that I was receiving that gift because I work for the company, and it is only because of my connection to the boss that I am getting that gift.

In an “I’m too lazy to argue back” kind of way, I could see how people would accept this control freak logic. I mean, it is true the person sending me this gift would not have likely crossed my path if not for this job. However, I find it problematic that that seems to be a justification to claim a gift that was not intended for you.

While I may have received my little gift card because I work at the company, it is one less gift card that this company would have received if someone was not working in my position. It wasn’t as if I received the gift without doing any work. I sat in meetings with this person and had multiple interactions with them just to reach a mutual agreement over a proposal.

So it baffles me that a business owner would think it was a good idea to undermine a positive interaction between their employee and a sales rep by claiming their Christmas gift.

But here is the kicker? In the middle of typing this post, I was in a bit of a mood when the owner swung by my desk. Because he was sorting through the gifts and I thought how crazy it was that a wealthy man would withhold a measly gift card from his employees (and a few other gifts from others). I texted my husband about my feelings at the moment, and 5 seconds later, the gift card was dropped off on my desk.

Caesar (that is what they call him for this gift-taking practice) dropped the card off and proceeded to tell me how he usually holds on to this stuff but not this one. I told my husband, and he said that Caesar probably felt my energy. I wonder if he thought the Office Black Girl would be the one to call him out on this shit practice.

Who knows. But now I am one $25 gift card richer and one more blog post closer to being a consistent writer.

Until the next time (which will be soon due to the amount of material I just got today)…

365 Days of Posts, Office Stories

Office Black Girl Moments: Vol. 1

Featuredby The Office Black Girl1 Comment

When I started this blog a few years ago, I intended to talk about my experiences as the only black woman in my department. If you know, you know.

But it was also for those who didn’t know. Being a black woman in the corporate world, especially the only woman of color in a department or even a whole company, is an experience, to say the least.

However, since the creation of this blog, I have since been laid off from that job, and I have found myself in several other work environments where the color of my skin has provoked awkward conversations. While I plan to share those stories here, I decided to mark this point as my day of change.

I recently saw a TikToker post about their one-year anniversary since they decided to start posting every day and how their life changed since then. And it made me think about how different my life might be if I had been consistent in the projects I pursued (and enjoyed) or if I didn’t just prioritize things to help dig myself out of debt.

So today is day one of me posting every day and seeing where my life will be in a year. I won’t lie, the content will probably be random, but I feel like that is appropriate. The black woman in your office has more going on than what you see every day, so here is a sneak peek into my thoughts, life, and the awkward moments of being The Office Black Girl

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Disappearing Act

December 29, 2019by The Office Black GirlLeave a Comment

Don’t you love when you find something interesting and it just disappears with no idea of when it will return?

After my last blog post, I thought I would not be able to continue. The thought that I would not be able to provide relevant content was soon overshadowed by personal and work drama. My life was giving me plenty of content and an awakened demon of depression. Unfortunately, it was a recipe for shutdown.

But I realized that now is the time to share that content and refocus my energy from the very things that bring dark thoughts to my mind and panic attacks to my heart and lungs.

I appreciate those of you have tuned in and I am ready to share the craziness that has been the last few months. Because what better way to work out my problems than an anonymous blog? I mean speaking to a mental health professional would be ideal, but who has the money or weekday work hours for that? Hint: not me.

Married Life, Office Stories

Turkey Basting With a Married Man

August 5, 2019August 8, 2019by The Office Black GirlLeave a Comment

In today’s post, I want to share the recipe for making a turkey baster baby with a married man.

Step One: take two lesbians who want to have a baby. Make sure one of the lesbians is possibly foolish and willing to bleed in her pursuit of securing the turkey baster full of sperm.

Step Two: have the foolish lesbian ask her coworker if she could have his sperm. For a little extra excitement to the process, make sure the lesbian barely knows the coworker, he has at least one kid, and is married to a woman who can come unhinged if provoked.

Step Three: abandon the whole recipe cause the wife will kill the lesbian and possibly the husband if any of his sperm makes it to a turkey baster.

Now, I have no moral or religious convictions that cause me to judge a same sex couple from trying to produce a child with a blood line tied to one of the parents. With that said, I have many judgments about my husband’s coworker asking for his sperm.

Now, my husband said no of course, but not before considering his mother’s feelings about the situation. The fact that his mother somehow played any primary factor in his decision making only fueled my annoyance with the the sperm request. But I’ve decided to (finally) let that go and focus my judgement on his coworker and not his incorrect priorities..

Women get knocked up by one night stands from all walks of life, so maybe his coworker figured she didn’t have to know anything about her sperm donor in order to get pregnant.

Maybe she thought negative stereotypes of black men abandoning their children would allow for her to have a child with a man and him be okay with not being involved.

Or maybe she must have thought that her working at the same job as him would somehow provoke the idea that she could somehow afford the sperm of a married man (trust she is not even close).

But all of that is irrelevant, because at the end of the day what it is comes down to is simple: that sperm is mine. Mine to disappointment my mother in law with when I tell her I don’t want to have more kids. Mine to fear when I forget to take my birth control. Mine to spit up, gag on, or fuck up my good sheets.

In conclusion…

This recipe pairs well with slashed tires, hostile side eye, possible assault charges, and crushed dreams. Wash it down with some hot tea and enjoy!