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︎︎︎ February 5th, 2024 ︎︎︎
February 5th, 2023

Pins & Junior Designers



I‘m really quite fond of complimenting strangers, and of being complimented by them. It’s such fun to observe something you like about someone you don’t know, to work up the courage to say something, then to enjoy their reaction to something positive. It’s the best.

Three people complimented a pin I have on my denim jacket. The first was someone stocking the shelves, then their check-out coworker, followed by the lady who cleaned my teeth. It felt nice every time and I got to mention that the pin was a Marigold, that’s the flower for the month of October, which is the month my daughter was born. That’s a lot of fun to say, then I get to talk about Roby, and that’s lovely to do. 

When I compliment people I’m generally quite careful as to not come off as coming on to them, or to make them uncomfortable. I try to compliment a choice they’ve made in terms of their clothing or some such. Most recently I told a person at the coop that I liked their outfit; they were wearing a purple sweater vest and a green dress shirt with a cream-colored collar, it was great. They seemed to like the compliment as much as I enjoyed administering it. 

About a week ago, maybe two? A barista at a café I don’t particularly like made a comment that wasn’t a compliment, and wasn’t an insult but...maybe it was? She asked if I worked at Solidarity, which I do. I said I did, and she asked if I was a junior designer.
“Cool! Are you a junior designer?”

Now,
I don’t have anything against junior designers. 
They’re great people doing great work and beginning their careers. Good for them. It’s a good thing, being a junior designer. But I am not a designer, and I am not junior. Even a junior designer, I think, would wonder about the qualifying -junior- being applied to them. Why? What about them implies Junior as opposed to senior, or directorial, or award-winning, or student, or intern, or ugly or anything else? It feels strange, insulting, even. 

I don’t think any “compliment” I’ve ever paid anyone has had qualifiers like that. I try to make any comment I make quite positive and charming and free from judgments or guesses. 

So weird.
Junior?
Just say designer.

Bozo