Eye-rolling in the deep

Never, if possible, lie down at night without being able to say: I have made one human being at least a little wiser, or a little happier, or at least a little better this day. Do as you would be done by.

Micro: pronounced ‘my-kroh’; meaning: extremely small, minute in scope or capability. This definition popped into my head when I read an article the other day that said civil servants have been told that ‘rolling their eyes is a form of micro-aggression’.

The government has spent thousands of pounds teaching members of staff how to avoid being inadvertently sexist or discriminatory but controlling these small acts of aggression which may, in fact, be involuntary or inadvertent. I’m not sure what part of the ‘minute in scope or capability’ definition of micro got missed by whoever arranged these sessions (the consultants who held them will have just thought ‘ker-ching’), but to my mind, micro means small, so small that it can be ignored.

There are so many awful things going on in the world at the moment that getting upset over someone’s reaction to something way are saying seems a little – first world problem? Maybe I’m being disingenuous. It is proper disheartening when you know that you are being ignored, or your ideas and suggestions disregarded, not because of they are intrinsically bad or wrong, but because they are your ideas – because you are too young, too old, too female, too male, too non-white, too white, too whatever. Making someone feel bad, or uncomfortable, or marginalised simply because you don’t agree with them is, well, just a bit rude. But we all do it. I’m definitely guilty of it, I know. If someone is talking complete nonsense to me, then there may well be some element of eye-rolling. Sometimes it’s more obvious than others, depending how much of an idiot I think they are being, and, of course, it also depends on the context and the relationship. Equally, If I had to sue someone every time I was a ‘victim’ of disparagement at the pure nonsense I am spouting, I’d be a very rich person. Plus, I have teenagers, eye-rolling at yet another of my embarrassing-Mum faux pas, is pretty much a daily occurrence.

Do as you would be done by is a fairly good way of going about one’s daily businesses I’ve always found. Take ESG for example. Businesses of all sizes are spending shed-loads of time, money and effort coming up with policies and paperwork that demonstrate their adherence to the right way of doing things under the headings of Environmental, Social, and Governance. Good things, that business who want to be run properly should be doing: not killing the planet, not exploiting employees, customers or suppliers, not doing dodgy deals, and reporting what you do in the right way, to the right authorities.

It does seem to be that it could all be simplified. Goodness knows, sometimes we all crave a bit more simplicity. How many grievance procedures, employment tribunals, and pages and pages of ESG policies could be removed if everything was summarised down to: Do your job the best way you can, try and be nice, and don’t be a dickhead.

I don’t think that’s a bad philosophy to live by.

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