I’ll bet you dirty birds are thinking that this post is going to be all about the grooming which is commonly known as landscaping…you dirty birds!
Nope, this post is about yard work…specifically landscapers. I recently heard an acquaintance say that she won’t date landscapers because they don’t have real jobs. I looked at her and made one of my super duper ugly expressions…one of those ones that screams “You’re an idiot!” while still not verbally offending anyone.
“A real job? What’s a real job?” I asked my acquaintance, genuinely curious about what her explanation of a real job would be. She told me that she just felt like field workers, farm workers, landscapers and gardeners didn’t have real jobs, that they were more hobbies or jobs that people get when they aren’t smart enough to get a real job. So I responded with my usual “hmmmm” and waited for the inevitable “Does that make sense?” that came out of her mouth. Cue…my opinion.
“Well, no, not really. I don’t understand how a vegetarian who receives most of her sustenance from the grocery store, a Wiccan who spends much of her life in nature, and the daughter of a botany major might consider those jobs to be less important, less real than other jobs. If you are simply prejudiced and feel that most landscapers and gardeners, field workers and farm workers might be undocumented immigrants, than your socio-political views are tainting your recognition that these jobs contribute to the flora which you appreciate so much. Without these workers, you wouldn’t have most of the things that you live with. So I’m not really sure that your statement makes sense.”
My acquaintance, stunned by that realization, more so than she should have been, then had one thing to say…
“Did you just call me a racist?”
“No, I called you prejudiced. Which is true.”
“I’m not!”
“When you believe a generalization about a group of people, and that belief leads you to a negative emotional or mental response to that group…such as believing that those jobs are not real jobs, it is a prejudice.”
At this point, the acquaintance was flustered and getting angry, and although I do love setting off heightened conversations, I decided that this one wasn’t one that I wanted to have, so I just looked out over the lovely park and smirked, “Wow, this landscaping is just perfect, true art!”
Hellish Behavior 