Diversity in the Workplace, 2

Sometimes when you start working for a big outfit where minor corruption and small slights are the order of the day, you imagine yourself the hero/heroine of some action adventure film, caught up in a web of intrigue and betrayal. You think you can be an action figure-like a beacon of righteousness, and shining your love light in the darkness of the bureaucratic grind of a behemoth called __________ (the name of your employer here). You work hard, you make waves, small things are changed. Some Gene Hackman like figure is going to cut through the bullshit and reward you. And small rewards are thrown your way. You recruit new employees. You play by the rules: you get a little power. You sculpt your hopes to the liking of your higher-ups. You allow yourself to be photographed for publicity materials, advertising the astonishing diversity of the University or Company. You wait trembling for your yearly evaluations, your raise. This infuriates you because you believe like EVERYONE else around you that you are treated unfairly, that you have been slighted, overlooked by the mediocre mean-spirited assholes in administration. It is clear that you are underappreciated, that you could have been a star, that you have given everything, the best years of your life to the behemoth. You undermine your coworkers' initiatives, you question everyone's loyalty, you think people are deceiving you, you delight in denying them what they want. You are an asshole. You work for the forces of darkness.