Step Outside Your World Analysis

Diversity is extremely important in the work place and can affect a company depending if they are diverse or not. Diversity is not just race or gender but it is also religion, age, what the person looks like, what the person wears, etc. In order to get a better understanding of diversity, I put myself outside of my normal environment by choosing an activity that would give me a better understanding of diversity.

Outside Normal Environment

Diversity can help cultivate an environment where everyone feels accepted and valued and free to work towards their full potential. I recently put myself outside of my normal environment and comfort zone to get a better understanding of diversity. A friend of mine, April, is a lesbian and she often gets judged because of it. In order to get a better idea of what she goes through on a daily basis I chose to act as her partner and go to lunch and walk around the local mall together as a "couple". I chose to go out to lunch at a restaurant and the mall with her because they are both such public places and in order for this activity to work I needed us to be by numerous amounts of people. Pretending to be a lesbian for an afternoon was definitely a different experience that really opened my eyes.

The Experience

By pretending to be the partner of my lesbian friend April, I noticed that people looked at me a whole different way from when I go out with my husband. In order for people to really believe we were a "couple" we held hands and sat right next to each other. The first things I noticed were the people that were staring and whispering. I expected this but did not expect child of about eight or nine to walk by with their parents and look at us in disgust asking her parents why we were holding hands. The hushed their child and hurried by. This whole experience was way out of my comfort zone because I am a married with a 4 year old son so obviously I have no experience being a lesbian. I wouldn't have done this whole activity with anyone else other than April who happens to be one of my best friends; she acted like it was no big deal so there was no awkwardness. This experience did not really change my views about people whom I observed. Since I have a gay friend and a lesbian friend, I never stare or whisper when I see same sex couples hold hands or kissing. It's nothing to me. Pretending to be a lesbian though really made me more aware of how rude people can be sometimes and how different people's views can be because some people don't care at all but others really do. I learned to put myself in other people's shoes more and to try and get an understanding of what they might be feeling or going through.

The Workplace and Diversity

Every workplace could benefit from diversity. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes and experiencing