🇺🇸 JewWhoHasItAllDear Avigayil,
I’m a #Christian, and my office has been giving me a really hard time about it. They claim to be so accepting of #minority #faiths! But whenever I mention going to [Christian shul] my co-workers snicker and make rude jokes.
1/15
I’m tired of being asked every Chanukah whether my kids won at dreidel last night (for the last time, NO, we don’t celebrate Chanukah or play with dreidels) or, in Adar, what they’re going to be for Purim this year.
2/15
2/15
My workplace asks for ridiculous amounts of proof, and letters from my [Christian rabbi] every time I need to take off time for a #holiday, and they are so rude about it when I ask for a little extra travel time so we can spend #Christmas with my family.
3/15
3/15
Dear Fed-up Christian,
Oy va’avoy, that’s a long list of complaints!
As a member of a minority faith, you must understand that most regular people are unfamiliar with your Christish beliefs and practices. Your co-workers’ joking is clearly all in good fun.
5/15
You can understand why they are curious and a bit uncomfortable about your rituals, and why they laugh as a result of that discomfort.
6/15
6/15
Although your co-workers joke with you about it, this seems to be a natural result of their curiosity about unusual aspects of your beliefs and practices.
7/15
7/15
It seems unreasonable to expect the world to notice that you are a member of a minority religion (one can’t tell someone’s religion just by looking!) or to stop asking about normal seasonal games just because the person being asked might be Christish.
9/15
9/15
It seems like you also expect your co-workers to monitor the religious calendars of people all over the planet to remember when your holidays are.
It’s a lot to ask, and nobody likes a coworker who is constantly #complaining about their supposed #victimhood.
10/15
It must wear on you to carry around the burden of feeling like a #victim all the time. I suggest making a fresh start when Rosh Chodesh Shvat comes, just a few days from now. It doesn’t have to be like this.
11/15
11/15
Release the your #persecution #complex and feelings of victimhood. Smile along with your co-workers when they make well-intentioned jokes for the group.
12/15
12/15
Understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you, and let it go when people ask about the holiday top games that you play in the Chanukkah #season.
13/15
13/15
And understand that your company can’t let people take vacation on any old day, they need to know that your holiday is a real holiday, because people might abuse the system. (And since melacha isn’t prohibited on your holidays, maybe simply reschedule them for a weekend?)
14/15
14/15
Have a wonderful chodesh Shvat, and with a little work on letting go, I bet you’ll feel much better by the time Purim rolls around.
Avigayil
#DearJWHIA #advice
15/15