Toxic

I am still relatively new to this workamping experience but what I have learned in the two places I have worked is that there is one workamping couple that will stand out.  They will not stand out in an out-standing way, but in a way that makes the rest of the workampers want to retreat to their inner sanctums.  It is the worker that brings toxins to the work place.

I know this happens in work places, but when you are a workamper you go home and they are still there.  They live in your neighborhood, and it can be a very tight neighborhood.  They create a certain tension when they enter the small workamping family and there is just no way to avoid them. 

It is when the toxicity starts to spill over and take up too much room that I feel the need to speak.   I will not tolerate anti-Semitic comments or sexist behavior.  I will call you on it every time.  When I start to feel a tsunami of  negativity, I take myself to a higher ground and try the best I can to avoid the waves.

There was a time that I was very fearful to confront such behavior.  I was a female living in a male dominated world and a workplace where men were allowed to massage your shoulders and demand you get them coffee and any objection would find you without a job.

I am thankful to live in this time that no longer tolerates un-consiousness and a time where I no longer fear using my voice.