Diversity

I believe diversity is a Good Thing, but have to laugh at some of the things done in attempts to create diversity, especially in the workplace. The company I'm about to discuss shall remain nameless to protect the not-so-innocent, but the following is factual. For the record, the company involved is not my own employer.

The Company published a diversity-themed calendar this year, with each month featuring a different ethnicity. No problem there. The Company also has a monthly get-together for the employees, where volunteers bring food in, and people who don't usually have reason to interact in the workplace get to spend some time together. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, and it almost certainly helps to reduce territoriality in the workplace.

Here's where things get foolish: An Executive decides that the Company needs to take action to promote diversity in the workplace. Lacking creativity (and probably having a calendar right in front of him/her), that individual decides to make it mandatory that all offices use a diversity theme for the monthly get-togethers, said theme to be based on the ethnicity-of-the-month on the calendar. It has to be mandatory because you don't want someone in one office fussing because another office did "African American" month (just for an example, so feel free to plug in the ethnicity of your choice) and theirs didn't. The Executive also decides to make attendance at the monthly get-together mandatory, which was not previously the case. The reason for this is less clear to me, but I'll assume that there is some good reason. Maybe it was so that nobody felt snubbed because somebody else didn't attend their ethnicity's get-together. The Executive moves on with his/her day, believing the task accomplished.

The problem is that the Executive moved on without thinking this through. Let's say that there is only one person of the ethnicity-of-the-month in an office of approximately sixty people. The food is supposed to be themed to the ethnicity, and what if that one person is literally the only person in the office who knows how to make that food? Is that one person supposed to make enough food for sixty people alone? That doesn't seem right. I suppose that person could recruit help, and might be able to teach others how to make their particular ethnic specialty (assuming preparation doesn't require specialized skills), but you've still put them in charge of the undertaking, like it or not. What if that person has other projects (professional or personal) due this month and doesn't have time right now? Too bad, because you have to go by the calendar!

What if said person happens to be single, living far from family, and doesn't happen to enjoy cooking? I suppose you could order from an appropriately specialized restaurant, if there is one available, but what if there isn't?

What if your particular office just doesn't happen to have anyone of the ethnicity-of-the-month? Who is going to take charge and provide the food? The restaurant option may also apply here, but again, what if there isn't an appropriate one available in your area?

What if there are ethnicities in the office that are not represented on the calendar? As it happens, in the office I'm talking about, there is such a situation. Most ethnicities were covered in the calendar, but not this particular one. So someone is left out who may well have wanted to be involved.

There is a gay/lesbian month on the calendar. What food do you serve for gay/lesbian month? As far as I know, they eat the same food everybody else does.

Lest you think I'm just throwing bricks without suggesting a viable alternative, I do have one. Why not just do a diversity month (or a couple of months) and ask volunteers to bring food representing whatever their particular background happens to be? You should get true diversity out of that without becoming bogged down in a host of ludicrous possibilities.

A little thought could have made this a great idea instead of a bad joke, but obviously somebody couldn't be bothered to think that much.