3.05 So What?

Elise works part-time at her local hospital scanning documents in the patient records department. Elise just met her new coworker, Bonnie. Bonnie looks old enough to be Elise’s grandmother. Elise groans. Why couldn’t the hospital have hired someone younger? She won’t have anything in common with Bonnie, and she’ll probably have to teach Bonnie how to do everything, including how to use a computer!

Elise is surprised to learn that Bonnie is very skilled. Bonnie’s years of experience have helped her develop some better scanning techniques that she shares with Elise to make her job easier. Elise even finds that working with Bonnie is fun because she has a great sense of humor and tells Elise interesting stories about her life and world travels. It doesn’t take long for Elise to learn to trust and value Bonnie’s advice about school and her friends.

A few weeks later, Elise thinks back to the way she first viewed Bonnie and laughs. The “old grandma” she met turned out to be a great coworker and a really cool friend. Elise values and enjoys having a mature person such as Bonnie to learn from.  Elise has just learned a lesson in valuing diversity—recognizing that differences can be positive. Read on to learn how you can value diversity and become a culturally sensitive coworker, classmate, and friend.