Wednesday, January 24, 2007

the odds

the company i work for in has a huge campus back east with a regional office here in portland. every so often, at the regional office the stuffed shirts decide to shake things up and reorganize everyone's cubicles and managers. i'm really not sure what the point of this is- according to them, it's necessary at least once a year, sometimes twice.

so, this week they're doing another "realignment" as they call it. when i went to check out my new digs and which desk neighbor i would have, i was annoyed that they have me sitting next to another black girl. i like her, that's not the issue. but why did they put the two black girls together?

on my entire floor, there are approximately 75-80 employees. 5 of us are black women. but in my immediate area of 20 employees there are only two black people- myself and the other girl, who i'm now going to be sitting next to. is it a coincidence that they put us next to each other? what are the odds, with a ratio of 1 to 9? was that their way of putting us in our own little corner where we wouldn't "disturb" anybody? kinda feels like it. if there were 10 black people out of 20, it would be different. or do they think we want to be next to each other because we're both black? maybe i'm reading too much into it. but something just doesn't feel right. not when we (black people) are so sparse there.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

if they've done several realignments and this is the first time they've sat you next to another black girl, i wouldn't worry about it. if they keep you together at the next realignment, then i'd worry.

-eyeris

Anonymous said...

Without knowing the exact layout of your office, I can not calculate the odds that the two black women would be sitting next to one another.

However, the odds that the two of you would be sitting in those two exact cubes is 1 in 190 (that includes that possibility that your cubes were switched, i.e. you were sitting in her cube and she was sitting in yours).

If there are other possible configurations that could be considered "two black women in the corner", then the odds are greater, however.

I hope this wasn't too confusing.

Anonymous said...

It also depends on how many alignments you've been through. If this is the first realignment ever and now suddenly you're sitting next to another black woman, then I'd be suspicious too. But if you've been through more than one realignment and this is the first time you've ever been placed next to another black person then I wouldn't worry about it.

Unknown said...

I think you are a little too supersticious. Like Eyeris said. We have a saying in Germany, possibly you have that too in English. It rhymes in German, nevertheless. Literally: One time is no time, two times means always.

As long as they didn't give youi the darkest place in the office, close to the bathrooms and stairways.

Just get over that. The mere thinking about it drives you crazy. It's allright if you walk thru the world with open eyes. But for real, you are a little too empathic at times.

Time Flies.... said...

Okay, you are so funny! 5-8 black people in your office?? Wow. Until the beginning of this month I was the only one....Now there are two of us and it really opened my eyes to the fact that in 20 years of being employed in Portland, I have never worked with more than 2-3 other black people...Things that make you go hmmm.

She won't bite you. Are you worried about being associated with her or what others might think? Be honest!

Pierre said...

Good share