Articles plus intimes ou réflexions personnelles sur des sujets variés. / More personal posts or reflections on various topics.
Voici un texte très juste et touchant sur l’Iran, mon pays natal. Il a été écrit à chaud par l’auteur, mais je pense que tout ce qui y est dit restera vrai une fois les cendres retombées.
Aidons les iraniens à sortir de l’horreur dans laquelle ils vivent depuis 47 ans, mais laissons les prendre en main leur futur. Je ne m’inclus pas dans « les iraniens » volontairement car je ne suis pas retourné dans mon pays natal depuis 1979 et ne le connais donc pas si bien que ça.
This is what I had to do last Thursday when I was faced with a situation that deeply disturbed me…
After leaving Kapten (I talked about this in a previous post), I started a new job just one month ago, in a very attractive scale-up. Things were going _globally_ well: all was not perfect because it takes time to fit into a new environment, with new colleagues, a new company culture, different technologies, not to mention the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the second French lockdown that started only 3 weeks after I discovered my new job’s mostly empty offices.
Last Thursday, I was attending my 5th remote 1-1 with my boss. Up to now everything went well, during the first four 1-1s he was supportive, smiling, he gave me advice even though he sometimes asked me to postpone the realization of some of my ideas because, he said, I had other priorities.
This time was different: he was angry, very angry… And he poured his anger on me during an hour! He falsely accused me of saying things I never did, he distorted my own words, he said that some of my peer managers were mad at me, that I made damages beyond repair with some of them… He used very harsh words against me: he told me some people thought I was a « cowboy« , a « conqueror« .
This meeting was deeply disturbing, because I knew things were not perfect, but never had I heard anyone tell me that I was doing wrong! As my manager never named anyone and used only real, but distorted, facts against me, I had no way of knowing where the truth was. Finally, he indirectly made me understand that I was in the hot seat.
I was petrified, shocked.
After this meeting, I took some time to think, I talked to some colleagues, and less than 24 hours later I decided to quit this company immediately! It’s a tough decision to make, it means that I’m jobless again, that I have abandoned my team, left unfinished projects, but here’s my reasoning:
That’s why I quit. I’m not worried about myself; I know what I’m worth and there are many other benevolent companies. I’m not worried about the company either, it’s really a fantastic company, with a promising future ahead and nice people.
If you’re confident and not in dire need, do not let abusive people hurt you! Whatever you try you cannot change them: this kind of people have a tremendous amount of negative energy, and sometime allies. If you can’t leave, seek help, gather your own allies, and remember that whatever you may have done wrong, you don’t deserve to be treated like shit.
On February the 10th, 2021, 3 months after the events, I received a message on LinkedIn from someone who still works it this company, but that I had never met. She was one of the person who was harassed by our common manager, and the only one who dared talk to the Workers’ Council.
She told me that the abusive manager had finally been fired! And she thanked me for bringing this affair into the light: thanks to my LinkedIn article, the company opened its eyes, at last, and did something.
I nevertheless think that they still are totally blind because of their deficient and overconfident HR team, which has not changed since. And I doubt that the founders learned their lesson: I know that, shortly after my article made the rounds of the company, the CTO defamed me in a company « All Hands » meeting. He has never apologized to me since for helping them stop the harassment.
Five years ago, between the 7th and 9th of January 2015, 3 islamic terrorists killed 17 people in France: journalists, cartoonists, police officers, customers, in the name of their sick beliefs. Some of these people, like the economist Bernard Maris and the cartoonists Cabu or Wolinski were people I really like. Cabu for example appeared in a TV show for kids that I loved in the 80’s. These were all nice people.
“It’s everybody’s fault: the Republic’s fault, the Occident’s fault, the Capitalism’s fault… but not terrorists’ fault”
Immediately after the tragic events, someone, whom I thought was part of my family, wrote multiple posts on Facebook saying that terrorism was not due to, well… islamic terrorists, but to “Capitalism”, to “injustice” or some other scapegoats. He wrote that Charlie Hebdo was a racist magazine, that we should not unite under the “values of the Republic”, because the Republic is capitalistic, that criticising a religion is racism and went on, promoting Marxism…
My wife and I were shocked. We tried to respond to his sickening messages but only ended being blocked by a few people from my own family who supported him, and being ignored forever by them…
A few months later, in November 2015, the unspeakable happened again in Paris, more than 130 people were killed and 400 injured. Again in the name of Islam…
It is this same sick religious belief that has changed my native country, Iran, into a murderous dictatorship 40 years ago.
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
My Facebook and Twitter profile picture dates from that time. It’s a drawing by the talented artist Joann Sfar.
It is the Latin motto of Paris,
“Fluctuat Nec Mergitur”,
“[she] is rocked [by the waves], but does not sink”. I have not changed it in five years.
We live in a free country, blasphemy does not exist, we are free to think and debate ideas, beliefs, and to criticize them. Nothing has changed, we will not sink.
Five years later, I will not let any political or religious ideology threaten my freedom.
Five years later, I will not forgive people who support the unspeakable in the name of their own sick ideology.
#JeSuisCharlie
Il y a cinq ans, entre le 7 et le 9 janvier 2015, 3 terroristes islamistes ont tué 17 personnes en France : journalistes, dessinateurs, policiers, clients de magasin, au nom de leurs croyances malades. Certaines de ces personnes, comme l’économiste Bernard Maris et les dessinateurs Cabu ou Wolinski étaient des personnes que j’aime beaucoup. Cabu, par exemple, animait une émission de télévision pour enfants que j’aimais beaucoup dans les années 80. Tous étaient des gens bien.
« C’est la faute de tout le monde : la faute de la République, la faute de l’Occident, la faute du Capitalisme… mais pas celle des terroristes »
Immédiatement après ces événements tragiques, quelqu’un, que je croyais faire partie de ma famille, a écrit de nombreux messages sur Facebook en disant que le terrorisme n’était pas dû à, eh bien… des terroristes islamiques, mais au « capitalisme », à « l’injustice » ou à d’autres boucs émissaires. Il a écrit que Charlie Hebdo était un magazine raciste, que nous ne devrions pas nous unir sous les « valeurs de la République », parce que la République est capitaliste, que critiquer une religion est du racisme et a continué en faisant la promotion du marxisme…
Ma femme et moi avons été choqués. Nous avons essayé de répondre à ses messages écœurants, mais nous avons fini par être bloqués par quelques personnes de ma propre famille qui le soutenaient, et nous avons été ignorés à jamais par eux…
Quelques mois plus tard, en novembre 2015, l’indicible s’est à nouveau produit à Paris, faisant plus de 130 morts et 400 blessés. Toujours au nom de l’Islam…
C’est cette même croyance religieuse malsaine qui a transformé mon pays de naissance, l’Iran, en une dictature meurtrière il y a 40 ans.
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
Ma photo de profil Facebook et Twitter date de cette époque.
C’est un dessin du talentueux artiste Joann Sfar.
C’est la devise latine de Paris,
« Fluctuat Nec Mergitur »,
« Il est battu par les flots, mais ne sombre pas ». Je ne l’ai pas changée en cinq ans.
Nous vivons dans un pays libre, le blasphème n’existe pas, nous sommes libres de penser et de débattre des idées, des croyances, et de les critiquer. Rien n’a changé, nous ne coulerons pas.
Cinq ans plus tard, je ne laisserai aucune idéologie politique ou religieuse menacer ma liberté.
Cinq ans plus tard, je ne pardonnerai pas aux gens qui soutiennent l’indicible au nom de leur propre idéologie malade.
#JeSuisCharlie
Les lectures de Farzad 