I hope that you have had a chance to relax and spend time with your loved ones, despite the restrictions.

I wish you all the best for the new year. In 2021, I would like to spotlight the notion of respect. This is because I recalled a number of concerns that were brought to my attention in 2020: some colleagues felt that they had been treated with a lack of respect, particularly in two areas.

The first relates to our international, multicultural nature. Every day, we rub shoulders with colleagues of different nationalities, whose names may be unfamiliar to us and sometimes hard for us to pronounce. Some of us may be tempted, perhaps out of laziness, to simplify those names, especially first names. Thus, Xavier* in Spanish sometimes becomes Xavier pronounced as in French. Ekaterina* becomes Catherine, Grzegorz* ends up as Gregory, Carlota* as Charlotte, and Pierre – to take my own example – becomes Peter for English speakers who are not used to pronouncing French names.

This may seem harmless, but our first names and family names belong to us, they are part of our identity, and we want them to be shown respect and pronounced properly. So, out of respect to our colleagues, let’s take the trouble to ask them how to pronounce their name if it seems complicated to us, and let’s really try to get it right.

The second area relates to the COVID-19 rules that we are required to follow for the good of all. Although most of us do so with good grace, when we’re feeling fed up, we sometimes get annoyed and ignore them. And when someone simply tries to remind us, politely, of the barrier measures, they are met with insults. Let’s not forget that, while we are supposed to respect the health and safety rules ourselves, we also have a duty to encourage others to do the same. If it’s just an involuntary oversight, which is brought to their attention politely and kindly, there should be no problem. This year we will continue to endure uncertainty as a result of the pandemic. So, in everyone’s interest, let’s all follow the health and safety rules! By pulling together, we will emerge from the crisis more quickly.

A happy and healthy new year to you all!

*Names have been changed

Pierre Gildemyn

If you’d like to comment on any of my articles or suggest a topic that I could write about, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at Ombuds@cern.ch.