A team member swung by my desk today shortly after I used the word ‘jipped’ in a team chat, and explained to me that the term has racist origins. A few thoughts:
- They were right; I learned something today. I learned the phrase growing up and I don’t think I’ve ever known or thought about the history of it.
- I’m proud to work in a team and a larger culture where (a) they felt the ability to come to me with feedback and (b) I was able to learn, apologize, and choose better terms without having to save face. I’m sometimes a bit skeptical of “growth mindset” but this was a small place to apply it and become better.
- Microsoft Teams (where this was posted) has the ability to edit messages, so I changed to a better word, but it felt odd to just remove the original one. I ended up also posting a quick thank-you to the team member who talked to me. I was a bit concerned this could come off as showmanship, but it seemed important to publicly acknowledge what I learned.
Alex Mullans 