Got some very bad news today

[Trevor]

I was expecting this: the person in the post I wanted desperately, emailed me in a panic two hours ago asking for my help in a project and like the schmuck I am, I agreed.

[chefzombie]

you're not a schmuck, you're a genuinely kind person, and i wish i could be more like you. i'd have laughed maniacally and blocked them.

[Newt]

I was expecting this: the person in the post I wanted desperately, emailed me in a panic two hours ago asking for my help in a project and like the schmuck I am, I agreed.

Wow.  You are so nice.  Don't ever put yourself down for that. 

(Does that person even know you were a candidate for the job?  I cannot imagine what it would take for them to ask for your help, if they did!     )

[Trevor]

I spoke to my mentor this morning regarding the post I applied for and it seems the consensus of the panel was that I am a fit candidate for being a resident film historian but not a preservationist. Several other reasons were given but I still believe I was passed over for the post due to apartheid style racist laws which favour race and gender over ability.

I admit that my mentor looked a little shocked when I said I will be taking early retirement in three years.

[RCMerchant]

I spoke to my mentor this morning regarding the post I applied for and it seems the consensus of the panel was that I am a fit candidate for being a resident film historian but not a preservationist. Several other reasons were given but I still believe I was passed over for the post due to apartheid style racist laws which favour race and gender over ability.

I admit that my mentor looked a little shocked when I said I will be taking early retirement in three years.

Racist laws? I don't understand...
Your not black or a woman...?
You mean racist against white males...?

[Trevor]

I spoke to my mentor this morning regarding the post I applied for and it seems the consensus of the panel was that I am a fit candidate for being a resident film historian but not a preservationist. Several other reasons were given but I still believe I was passed over for the post due to apartheid style racist laws which favour race and gender over ability.

I admit that my mentor looked a little shocked when I said I will be taking early retirement in three years.

Racist laws? I don't understand...
Your not black or a woman...?
You mean racist against white males...?

In SA, if you are white and male, the employment laws are against you as the laws state that preference of employment will be given to female black African candidates, no matter if they have no qualifications for the job. This is why so many female govt. ministers have been found incapable of doing their work correctly without blaming the pre 1994 laws.

I knew this going in for the job but I still gave it my best shot: guess it wasn't good enough.

[RCMerchant]

So it's reverse racism? They are over compensating?

[RCMerchant]

Are you sure? That's why they did what they did?
Trevor- your my buddy. But I think your reading too much into it.
All jobs want new blood. I worked at a factory for 30 years- I was a foreman too. But they go for young blood.

[Trevor]

Are you sure? That's why they did what they did?
Trevor- your my buddy. But I think your reading too much into it.
All jobs want new blood. I worked at a factory for 30 years- I was a foreman too. But they go for young blood.

Not reading too much into it at all: in 1996, all the Caucasian staff members at my work got called in as a group and we were told to our faces that we were, as so called pale males, "undesirable elements" now that apartheid had gone and were told that we either needed to get with the program or leave. I was raised in a non racial household and this made me very angry. I told the senior staffer to go f*** herself as she didn't know me. She ended up leaving "because of work related stress" and I was the only one who stayed.

[RCMerchant]

I apoligize Trevor,  if I said anything offensive. I don't live in South Africa, nor do I know your situation beyond what you say here.
I'm sorry if I offended you.

[Trevor]

I apoligize Trevor,  if I said anything offensive. I don't live in South Africa, nor do I know your situation beyond what you say here.
I'm sorry if I offended you.

You offend me? Never. 

[Newt]

I admit that my mentor looked a little shocked when I said I will be taking early retirement in three years.

While we all know you are one heckuva historian, did they really expect you to (figuratively) "close your eyes and think of England" as they screwed you?

   Apologies Trevor: I am presuming to be incensed on your behalf.

[Newt]

So it's reverse racism? They are over compensating?

Pretty much.  Tit for tat.

I have had it explained to me in recent times that it is not racism unless it is expressed by members of the group in power.  And here it is.   

[chefzombie]

i'm just as angry, newt, trevor truly deserves that job! 

[zelmo73]

Are you sure? That's why they did what they did?
Trevor- your my buddy. But I think your reading too much into it.
All jobs want new blood. I worked at a factory for 30 years- I was a foreman too. But they go for young blood.

Not reading too much into it at all: in 1996, all the Caucasian staff members at my work got called in as a group and we were told to our faces that we were, as so called pale males, "undesirable elements" now that apartheid had gone and were told that we either needed to get with the program or leave. I was raised in a non racial household and this made me very angry. I told the senior staffer to go f*** herself as she didn't know me. She ended up leaving "because of work related stress" and I was the only one who stayed.

Some Americans find it hard to accept that the very thing that they want to happen in the United States of America, land of the "free", is considered as racist in other countries. But then again, most uncultured Americans that have never set foot outside of the country except for maybe a trip to Canada to score some stronger beer are even aware of the laws of other countries in the first place.