Thanks to everyone who responded to the last post.  It's been weird in the office.  People are calling me "troublemaker" and sort of heckling me.  I don't like it, and I tell them, but they don't seem to get it.  In any case, I was looking at some of the responses to my last post.  I wonder how many people thought that the manager that sent the message out was male.  My lead is Sandra Stucke.  Then it goes on up through the ranks to Lori Rucks, Darlene Meadows, Ann Gray, Gerry Shelton, Jack O'Connell, and finally the big guy Arnold Schwarzennegger.  It was Ann that sent the e-mail.  There are a lot of women in the department, in managerial positions, and in that sense the department is progressive.  In many other ways, it's not.

It's a weird "culture" in the office.  A lot of people do things under the auspice that what they are doing will help the millions of California's students.  Sometimes, they do waste money, but for the most part, our department is probably one of the most efficient.  Sometimes though, a few bad eggs will cause everyone to get a bad rap.

I found out that the Interactive Asian Contemporary Theatre (InterACT) production of "Struggling Truths" will open on May 6, at the Sacramento High Mel Lowery Art Theatre at 8:00 pm.  Then we have shows every Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and every Sunday at 3:00 pm until May 30, 2004.  So come support if you can.

I want to bring a branch of Revival Arts Productions to Sacramento too.  Revival Arts Productions is a group that was co-founded by one of Chi Rho Omicron's founding fathers, Mr. Marc Dolor, and Kevin Correa.  The goal of the group is to revive historic plays written by people of Filipino descent.  I have a collection of possible scripts to stage, and just need a few interested folks that would want to read through them with me and decide what to stage.  Anyone interested?

One last thing on my mind.  A national World War II veterans memorial was opened up today in Washington DC.  It has been a long time coming.  The American Battle Monuments Commission estimates that 1,100 WWII veterans die a day.  That includes Filipino WWII veterans.  When will they be able to fully celebrate that this monument is for them as well?  When will the country that they so proudly served claim them as their own?  Write to your representative.  Let them know that this is a travesty.  Go check out www.fullequitynow.com and join us on our National lobby days on May 3 and 4.

Well I'll be...

I work at the California Department of Education, and a little while ago, we received an e-mail from our manager, whose complete text I am going to post here:

Subject: Workplace Diversity

More and more workplaces today contain largely diverse groups of employees.  Consequently, there are many poeple who speak a second or third language.  While I respect these employees' ability to master different languages (a skill I never mastered!), staff also need to be considerate of their co-workers feelings.  Please refrain from using a language other than English in the office unless you are on the phone with a person who does not speak English.  This will prevent other co-workers, who do not speak the same language, from being hurt or feeling that they are being talked about.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

I responded as follows:

Hello,

I am troubled by the announcement of this "English only" rhetoric in a department where education and knowledge are believed to improve people.  I would recommend that if someone were so insecure as to believe that someone is talking about them in another language, they should ask them directly.  Another thing for them to keep in mind is that there usually isn't a direct translation of a name into another language.  Hence, Estelle would still be pronounced Estelle in whatever language is being used.

This type of stance makes a mockery of education and the education system.  I myself do not speak any other language, although I am taking classes in Tagalog, a language used in the Philippines.  You have successfully supported workplace diversity and undermined it in the same announcement.

I object to this request and request that diversity training be established for the department.

Thank you,

Bobby G. Roy

So what do you think?  Was I out of line?  What would you have done?

On the third day, it arose from the dead.  Yes, on Friday night, my car went dead.  Not irrepairably dead, but it sure wasn't starting.  I was reminded a lot by this weekend though.  I can't say that I learned a lot, because it's all stuff I had learned before.

First, you can always count on brothers.  Since I don't have any biological brothers, of course, I'm talking about my fraternity brothers.  I called one brother, and since his wife had just given birth, he couldn't come out.  He did the next best thing.  He called other brothers to come out and give me a hand.  With 209 brothers to call on, getting help shouldn't be a problem.

Secondly, I was reminded of the greatness of a child's innocence.  Last time I really felt this was in the Philippines in September of 2000, when I met one of my grand-nieces, Vanessa.  Upon just meeting her in Baguio, she hugged me, told me that she wanted to show me her play area, grabbed my hand and led me to a small clearing where she had a little club house.  This time, my cousin Jennifer, my fifteen year old cousin, who had gone out earlier in the day, came to me, who in the mean time had been calling auto parts places and figuring out a way to fix my car, and gave me some chicken nuggets from Wendy's.  It was a small gesture, but it came as a huge surprise to me, and a feeling of appreciation swept over me.  I even denied it at first, but she insisted.  I give as much of myself out to everyone, and it felt so good to get a little more than usual back.  I say more than usual, because I thank God each and every day for what I have.  God sacrificed the most perfect lamb for me, just as ordered in Moses' time.  God sacrificed everything for me.  That is a wonderful gift.  I don't take it for granted.  Similarly, I didn't take the gift that my fifteen year old cousin gave me for granted.

Finally, I realized how hard I've been on my uncle, who, like me, is doing what he can.  We're family, and I need to encourage, rather than discourage him, and believe in him, rather than criticize his decisions.  I don't have to agree with him all the time, but I don't need to condemn him for what he does.  I just need to be positive for him.  Then things will be better.  Life has been hard for him.  Life has been hard for both of us.  When I lost my mom, he lost his sister.  Now that my lola is sick, his mother is sick.  We're linked.  We'll always be linked.  He helped me fix my car yesterday.  Easter Sunday, after church, when he had a party to go to, he worked right next to me, for hours, until we got the starter changed.

I finally woke up on time in order for me to get to work in time.  I hate how waking up late can mess up your whole day's plans.  It's been that way for me for about a week now.  I blame it one Daylight Savings Time.  I think it had more to do with my lola getting sick and me being worried sick also.  I love her and am doing my best for her, and so I leave the rest up to God.  "I cast all my cares upon You."

And on the third day, God arose from the dead.  Thank you God for always reminding me of these lessons.

I went to the ER yesterday with my lola.  She was complaining of pain in her upper abdomen.  She's at that age where the smallest pain could be serious.  So if she says let's go to the doctor, we go, no matter how much I want to resist.  Boy did I not want to go yesterday.  I feel guilty about that.  My head said get Pepto Bismol.  She'll be fine.  My heart said don't be selfish.  Not after what I went through with mom.  My heart won.

I went into Kaiser and right away said that we would need an interpreter.  They told me they didn't have one.  Of all the nurses that speak Tagalog, there wasn't one working that day in the ER.  Sure.  Well I was surprised that we got in there pretty fast, bt it makes sense to me now.  They checked her heart with an EKG, to make sure she wasn't having a heart attack, because heart attack symptoms in women are different than they are in men.  I learned that when my mom had her first of two heart attacks.  Back then, they said it was a mild heart attack.  As if there was such a thing.

They also used an X-ray and checked to see that her intestines weren't blocked.  I guess that was okay too.  However, there was blood in her stool.  Not a good sign.  They took a CT Scan and found out that she had inflammation in her stomach.

After eight hours of tests, they prescribed two antibiotics and sent us on our way home.  They said she wasn't supposed to eat within two hours of taking the medicine and to drink lots of water.  I don't know if she'll do it. 

I wasn't sure if I should go into work this morning.  I did though.  She won't answer the phone when I call, so I don't even know if she's okay.  I got home and she was in her room, which is good, and she had taken her medicine.  As stubborn as she is, I don't know if she'll take all of the medicine.  It makes her want to vomit.  She says it's "mapait."  Anyone know what that means?  I don't know if it's Tagalog or Ilokano or Pangasinan.

It seemed like I was all alone last night.  My lola was home, but she went to bed early as usual, and was in her room the whole time I was home.  She has a small microwave in her room, and she usually keeps some reheatables in her room during the day.  So I had supper in silence.  I didn't even turn the television on.  After dinner, I popped in The Original Kings of Comedy to get a few laughs in.  I didn't have anything else to do.  I usually throw in The Rock or Remember the Titans or even There's Something About Mary.  I have a limited collection, but they keep me entertained.

I haven't really been able to come to terms with the idea of lola leaving.  Then I'll really be alone.  I wonder what I'll do then?  What do you do when you're home all alone?

Happy Cesar Chavez day!  Not to take anything away from the man credited with leading the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), but I wish more people knew about Filipino labor leaders Larry Itliong, the first vice-president of te UFW and Philip Veracruz, co-founder of the UFW, who led the UFW right alongside of Cesar Chavez.  Together, they molded the UFW into what it is today.  Filipino and Mexican farm laborers made the UFW together.  Today, Filipinos are not included in that talk.  It's a tragic reality.

I personally dedicate this day to them as well, as they are as big of heroes as Mr. Chavez.  Some day, if I have any say about it, they will be properly recognized as they should be.  Let's all put our hands together in their honor.