Sweep Me Off My Feet

“Are you sure you are not just saying what you think should be said? You know, being politically correct and everything?”

Angela took a long, deep breath.

“Well, to be honest, I would rather avoid politics in the workplace altogether, but I did not just say that for the sake of being on the right side of politics or any such thing. I said it because that is what I truly believe.”

She turned around and grabbed the towel roll before she tore off a couple of pieces.

“You should really consider how this impacts us as employees of color, you know. I mean, this place has more black and brown employees than white people,” Darlene said as Angela wiped down the counter. “We have the power.”

Angela turned around and looked at her.

“The power,” she echoed. “What for exactly?”

“To make sure that the company treats us right,” Darlene said, and Angela shook her head.

“I was wrong. This is not how political careers are launched. This is how mutinies begin.” She balled up the paper towel and tossed it in the bin. “I would prefer if we did not have this conversation again.”

She began walking out of the break room, and Darlene reached for her hand.

“What is it now?” Angela asked exhaustedly as she turned around.

“You do know that I was just making conversation, right?” Darlene asked, and Angela shrugged.

“Yes, but you were a little bit too passionate about the topic. A topic that you have no proof of, may I add.”

“If everyone else is talking about it, shouldn’t we at least consider what truth is there in the subtext?” Darlene asked, and Angela exhaled loudly, as she shook her head. Sometimes it was hard maintaining the boundaries between friendship and work. Darlene was not the easiest person to deal with especially when she thought she had a bone to chase.

“Darlene, I really don’t want to talk about this,” Angela said authoritatively. “Don’t you have some work that you could be doing right now instead of talking about the man you depend on for your job?”

The look on her face said it all, Angela was not going to entertain any nonsense Darlene was thinking about. Darlene might have been a little disappointed as she walked away from Angela, but all Angela cared about was the fact that she had put Darlene in her place. That did not happen very often.

After she got to her office, she dove right into her work, getting some admin work out of the way, but at the back of her mind, she kept on hearing Darlene’s voice. She leaned back in her chair and drummed her fingers on the edge of the desk wondering if she should look into the scandal involving her boss or not.

“Fu*k this,” she thought as she began typing the keywords into her search engine. She would have indulged in what she thought was simply propaganda when she got called out to the floor. “Damn it…I guess the associates come first,” she thought as she got up.