Today is my last day in Brazil. I have absolutely loved it, especially the time spent in the South of Brazil. Considering I had to work the entire time I was here, its not often I get to say that I truly loved it. The location, people, food, work experience has all been fantastic - I have never been treated this well by any previous clients.
I feel somewhat guilty and ridiculous saying this….but I do believe I have a stalker... a single-white female to call my own. Let me start by saying that she is nice, but it crossed the line into stalkerville a while ago. This woman has been glued to me from the second I got into town. She has had every single lunch and dinner with me…and she jockeys to sit next to or across from me. She brings me Cokes, pineapple, tells me how nice I look (except today she said I looked tired – grrrr), and literally is at my beck and call. She scheduled a wine tour and literally lurks outside of my cube to be with me. She showed me airfare prices to come visit me in Detroit next year.
At first, I loved the attention and probably even encouraged it. I was helping her with her English. Now…I am a little distressed. Last night she asked me to go to dinner (with a couple of others) and when I said no, she literally looked like she was going to cry and quickly left the table. Tonight, we are having a big end of the audit dinner with the entire audit team and our clients (probably 20-25 people). It is at a fancy restaurant and we decided as an audit team to go to a club afterwards to celebrate a job well done. My stalker found out and said, “I am coming with you”.
I feel like this is such a burden and I’m on the verge of lying about going so that I might have my last night to my team and myself. Honestly, how big of a jerk am I? Feel free to tell me I'm a jerk.
To answer some of the questions that have already been asked – yes, she’s hot and yes, I’m sure I could land her. J Ha ha. :)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Keep it in Your Pants
Ok, I've made it to Caxias do Sul, Brazil. The land of Gisele Bundchen and other drop-dead gorgeous people, in general.
I'm with a few co-workers (all male) and I have to say that I am so surprised by the 13 year-old boy mentality. Honestly, my co-workers are 28, 39 and 44 - at the sight of a pretty girl on our team from a local firm, they practically wet themselves. Eyes popped out of their heads, I see them make comments to each other about the hot girl. The 28 year-old is the pride of my all male staff (in addition to my team) in that every other guy (meaning the married ones) can live vicariously through him.
Here's my problem
1. 28? You're no longer 22 years-old dude and if you don't watch it, you'll become that "creepy guy"
2. The 28 year-old has a girlfriend and is constantly looking for praise for the fact that he is faithful to this girlfriend. Again...you're 28 - being in a relationship is expected - it is NORMAL behavior.
3. The ease in which my co-worker is praised and lauded for his sexual prowess. Kind of gross and totally inappropriate at work.
4. The co-worker has prior sexual harassment complaints filed against him by two girls in Sweden for his behavior. Yet, he continues on this path and is again encouraged repeatedly at every level in my dept. If it were me, I'd be scared silly and would be nothing short of professional.
It really irks me and over the course of my two audits here in Brazil I've called everyone out on the team for their behaviors and input into this scenario. Sometimes its in a joking way, but I've also pulled certain people aside and told them they'd better watch out if they want to be taken seriously down the road, etc. I've even cursed one co-worker into having girls that are cheated on by their boyfriends because "they're not married yet, live life while you can" (that was his quote and he didn't appreciate me calling him on it. He's a VERY conservative Catholic, if you couldn't guess...how dare I.)
At the end of the day, I shouldn't be surprised by this, nor should I let it work me up. However, its the same story every single day. A pretty girl walks by, same story every single time. At what point does this behavior become acceptable and even encouraged? Why do men do this? I don't buy genetic disposition, but its used as an excuse. "Its what guys do.". "Its how guys are wired." Personally, I think its a lame excuse to act like a pig. While I've never been a man and truly don't understand this, I do know lots of men that go through their lives without being a walking billboard for random hook-ups.
I'm with a few co-workers (all male) and I have to say that I am so surprised by the 13 year-old boy mentality. Honestly, my co-workers are 28, 39 and 44 - at the sight of a pretty girl on our team from a local firm, they practically wet themselves. Eyes popped out of their heads, I see them make comments to each other about the hot girl. The 28 year-old is the pride of my all male staff (in addition to my team) in that every other guy (meaning the married ones) can live vicariously through him.
Here's my problem
1. 28? You're no longer 22 years-old dude and if you don't watch it, you'll become that "creepy guy"
2. The 28 year-old has a girlfriend and is constantly looking for praise for the fact that he is faithful to this girlfriend. Again...you're 28 - being in a relationship is expected - it is NORMAL behavior.
3. The ease in which my co-worker is praised and lauded for his sexual prowess. Kind of gross and totally inappropriate at work.
4. The co-worker has prior sexual harassment complaints filed against him by two girls in Sweden for his behavior. Yet, he continues on this path and is again encouraged repeatedly at every level in my dept. If it were me, I'd be scared silly and would be nothing short of professional.
It really irks me and over the course of my two audits here in Brazil I've called everyone out on the team for their behaviors and input into this scenario. Sometimes its in a joking way, but I've also pulled certain people aside and told them they'd better watch out if they want to be taken seriously down the road, etc. I've even cursed one co-worker into having girls that are cheated on by their boyfriends because "they're not married yet, live life while you can" (that was his quote and he didn't appreciate me calling him on it. He's a VERY conservative Catholic, if you couldn't guess...how dare I.)
At the end of the day, I shouldn't be surprised by this, nor should I let it work me up. However, its the same story every single day. A pretty girl walks by, same story every single time. At what point does this behavior become acceptable and even encouraged? Why do men do this? I don't buy genetic disposition, but its used as an excuse. "Its what guys do.". "Its how guys are wired." Personally, I think its a lame excuse to act like a pig. While I've never been a man and truly don't understand this, I do know lots of men that go through their lives without being a walking billboard for random hook-ups.
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