So today in a meeting I watched my colleague, a quiet lawyer, graciously refuse food that was passed round the table. Each latecomer had another go at offering the plate of cake to him. All the thoughts were kind.
I saw in that moment, and in his grace, what it means to him to fast, to be the solitary Muslim in our not-Muslim workplace, to have no one ever remember what time of year it is, to not remember who he is.
I think we can do better.
@katebowles What can we do better?
There are so many reasons to refuse a cake offer.
In a 'food situation' It is not feasable to please everybody's diet plan, may it be the presence of food at all or limited to certain food group(s).
I now think differently about Ramadan. Muslim colleagues have given me insight into what takes it beyond diet plan for them.
So he asked nothing of us, but maybe we could have been considerate of his practice if we’d remembered and handled it differently, and it would have done us no harm at all.
Nice outcome: for next year he will record a short video for us about Ramadan experience to support our Muslim students, who are similarly in small number.
@katebowles But what exactly does a different handling look like?
Don't have cake/food at all?
Just have it standing in a corner?
Not offer the colleague any of it? (What if you know he is Muslim but doesn't participate in fasting?)
And then there is the athlete preparing for a contest, the persons in weight-loss mode, the vegans...
All these diet restrictions are a choice. My diet plan and motivation also is nobody's business and nobody should make a big thing of me refusing food offers.
@encarsia
That’s an interesting comparison. I work closely with a serious endurance athlete who eats strictly, in a measured and time sensitive way.
My respect for both my colleagues is the same, but I don’t think what they’re doing is necessarily the same.
Respecting both isn’t a big task.