Used in a sentence: "As you may know, at the end of my last year, my job at my company was eliminated BUT I was lucky enough to have been placed in a new role with a new team in December ... thus necessitating me having the BI Talk with a bunch of new people."
I like to think that my company is pretty forward-focused -- it's based out of NYC after all, where all types of all kinds of all people are crammed onto a tiny tiny island. That being said, it's also a place where a good number of employees are in the remote workforce, which means your co-workers might come from any part of the country -- red, blue OR purple. The bottom line is that you never really know how tolerant and accepting and open-minded people will be.
Admittedly, working from home as I do means that I can mostly control the timeline for full disclosure of the status of things in my household. But every now and then, quite unexpectedly, someone might see something in the background of a hangout, or hear something during a conference call ... and so it's better to pre-wire co-workers for this type of conversation. I do what I can to find out if a person has strict views about there being only one right way to be ... and I'll admit to making some presumptions that things will be okay when I speak to those who are younger than I am as they seem to have a much more fluid approach to life in general.
Regardless ... eventually ... I have to prepare myself to get vulnerable and to go on record and to tell them: I am both a dog AND a cat person. It's true -- growing up, I've lived and loved both before ... and I currently am raising two of each. It's also true that there was a period of time in my 30's when it was all cats all the time, but that wasn't because I felt a stirring in my soul to label myself one way or the other -- it was just a factor of living in a small apartment that wouldn't be suited for big dogs.
I am not exclusively a dog person. I am not exclusively a cat person. I am bi.
I'll end this post the same way I conclude the BI Talk any time I have it -- "discard any preconceived notions about me based on what you *think* I like ... don't you dare try to put me in one of your boxes 'cause I promise you that I don't fit ... and open you mind to the possibility that love doesn't have to be so limited to be restricted to only one kind -- some of us have ALL the love to give ... and the giving of love should really be the #lifegoals for all of us."
THE DOG PEOPLE STEREOTYPE:
https://barkpost.com/dog-people-stereotypes/
THE CAT PEOPLE STEREOTYPE:
https://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1011433-8-cat-person-stereotypes-totally-true/
FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE BI:
https://hellogiggles.com/lifestyle/both-a-cat-and-dog-person/
