My clients

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Bob, glad to see this general subject being taken in the direction of 
straight on topical material. 

With all due respect to Robert G.... his last post struck me as an 
overeaction to the situation he was presented with.  Its not like he was 
confronted with a fellow with a few AK47s, a couple Walther PK47's and a 
selection of bloodies machetès and hunting knifes on his person.  It was 
just a guy with a beard with a dress on... in probably the most likely 
city in the world to find such. I dont find it suprising to have read 
the various reactions to his post one iota, tho I have to also admit my 
first reaction to his post was far more humourous then what the ensuing 
discussion prompted me to write.  Perhaps this is because tho I dont 
know Robert personally,  his many posts on the list make it difficult 
for me too imagine he has all that much of an issue with transgendered 
perse'.  More likely its just not his cup of tea, and he sees no reason 
to makes any bones about it.  Fair enough considering all the various 
forms of prejudice <<light>> we all far to easily make our selves guilty 
of.  Indeed, I still think that probably the most funny part about the 
whole  episode was probably Roberts face when the fellow opened the 
door.  Grin... personally I would have loved to seen the expression on 
his face.  And no... I didnt really like the references to "it" in 
Roberts origional post... nor is any of this meant to defend those.  Bad 
humour at best me thinks.

Ok...   but we get quickly into the kind of discussion BobDavis takes a 
lead on below, and Bob makes I think the most relvant points very well 
indeed.  Unless you are in a truly threatening situation... we've  no 
reason to think one way or another about any particular customer outside 
of business relating directly to our job there and then.  I really dont 
see that Robert has shown any real such threatening situation to his 
person, but then on the other hand I wasnt there.  Indeed, the moment 
Robert walked into the door to accept the job... he should have been 
sure of that and of his ability to be comfortable working for the 
person.... or he should have turned away.

In the ensuing wash of posts, it difficult to conclude that a select few 
were anything other then directly prejudiced and biggoted. I suppose we 
should be able to just ignore such posts, at least on the list. 
Difficult sometimes.....

As far as Sarah is concerned....some of us have known all along where 
life has taken her.  Shes a great gal... what can I say ?  I'm glad 
she's with us.

Cheers
RicB


BobDavis88@aol.com wrote:

> The recent uproar has me thinking about the diversity of clients, and 
> my relationship to them, as a businessman and a person.
>  
> My clients are Baptists and Buddhists, straight and gay, atheists and 
> agnostics, leftists and rightists, very social and reclusively 
> private. They are a joy to me BECAUSE OF, not in spite of, their 
> diversity. Many of those who some would consider the most "off center" 
> are, when approached with an open heart, the most enriching to me as 
> we share our common interest in music and the piano from two 
> [sometimes very] different points of view. I am sure that more than a 
> few of them think of me as a bit "off center" as well.
>  
> As is also apparent from this list, almost all of us have some special 
> gift. In some cases, the development of that gift may even be 
> intensified in compensation for social ostracism. Thinking only in 
> terms of "tolerance" for those different from us puts us in 
> an attitude where we can not fully appreciate those gifts, to our 
> great loss. "Tolerance" isn't enough; true humility admits the most 
> joy. It's the difference between "sympathy" and "empathy", and we are 
> the beneficiaries.
>  
> Sarah Fox says, "This email list was the first list I have ever joined 
> as a rank-and-file
> human being with no visible gender issues." For many months she was 
> judged (fairly and positively) on the content of her posts. Exactly as 
> it should be.
>  
> With sincere best wishes,
> Bob Davis