Luke Bryan, Beyonce doesn't have to hang out with you
Luke Bryan, Beyonce doesn't have to hang out with you
The weird parallel between the country music industry and Corporate America
I knew this “game” and the certificates were going to be some bulls*it before I wrote down one name. Still, trying to be a “team player,” I filled in co-workers’ names for every category like it was my high school yearbook. I watched the pattern of the questions: “Most Likely To Plan a Practical Joke,” “Most Talented At Editing,” “Best Sense of Humor,” blah blah blah.
And as soon as I got to the category “Most Likely To Stay At Their Desk,” I immediately wrote down the obvious — a 30-something, white, male veteran who was hired to manage the tech marketing team. He barely knew anyone’s name, always closed his office door, made minimal contact with anyone in the hallways and two of his team members quit shortly after he was hired. To describe him as tense would be an understatement. The only time we knew he would loosen up was when another veteran joined our marketing team, and two white male co-workers were hired. Immediately, with a different group, he invited them to his home for Poker Night.
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I pondered on why this wasn’t a thing he tried with his prior co-workers, one of which was a woman. But seeing as how he didn’t really converse with any women — black or white — I already knew that was unlikely.
When everyone turned in their forms and the graphic designer created certificates for us, I wasn’t particularly interested in the results. Still, I strolled over to hear what she had to say. (She and I hadn’t really vibed ever since she went to a Happy Hour and complained about all the black women in the office and then removed a black woman from the marketing material. Our work relationship was lukewarm, to put it mildly.)
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And just as this graphic designer and her two friends (one of which gave an unsolicited lecture to another co-worker about “not having cliques in the office” — while ironically being in a clique) got ready to announce the “winners” after asking us to meet in an area of the office, the anti-social veteran stood up, marched to his office door and slammed it.
I let out a laugh.
Told you! I said to myself. He earned that certificate fair and square.
So imagine the look of disbelief on my face when the person who “won” that certificate for “Most Likely To Stay At Their Desk” was given to me. Never mind that I regularly went to lunch with the friendlier veteran and made a point of hanging out with one of the newer field managers. I also would go to hip-hop dance classes and yoga classes with a second manager, who I befriended immediately. I mixed and mingled with white and black people. What I didn’t do was hang with two of the three white women who created this “game.”
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I looked from the office of the grumpy veteran and back to that certificate, and I decided to earn my certificate. I walked back to my desk.
Luke Bryan’s take on Beyonce mirrors Corporate America cliques
I shook my head while reading Luke Bryan’s take on Beyonce not being nominated for a Country Music Award because she didn’t “come into our world and be country with us a little bit … come to an award show and high five us.” Never mind that there are traditional country songs on “Country Carter.”
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Never mind that she checked off all the boxes to be nominated. Never mind that she’s been wearing blonde hair, cowboy boots, Levi jeans and cowboy hats all year (or at least on Instagram). Never mind that the Texan — who was already releasing country music before “Country Carter” — has a documented history of admitting she felt very unwelcome at the CMAs by just about everyone but The Dixie Chicks (The Chicks).
Side note: The Chicks are incredible. I stop to two-step every single time I hear “March March.” Support them. For real.
Then there’s Floridian rapper T-Pain who dealt with so much racism while writing country music that he asked for his songwriting credits to be removed. He just wanted to quietly be paid without the documented credentials. Working with big names has become such a headache for some black country artists to the point that they just release their own music quietly and hope it catches on without the country music clique machine.
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This is a disappointing parallel. In far too many office spaces, and apparently with celebrities too, there’s a certain segment of the population who wants you to deal with all the disrespect, kiss their ring and beg to be in their inner circle. (And I’m not even touching on the hair comments, richter scale of how “articulate” you are or trying to match you up with the first black person they can find.)
My take? Save your sanity. Go back to your desk.