You know, who ever said men and women can't be just friends is full of so much crap, they should be flushed down the john. Certainly, boys and girls are different, but when you boil it all down, we're all just human. I don't know what got me thinking about this, but I suppose it stems from the fact that I'm the only girl at work. It's been that way for years. The profession I chose is a male dominated profession, which doesn't bother me one bit, I've always gotten a long really well, and surprisingly never ran into too much "discrimination".
Oddly enough, the only person I can remember ever having a problem with me is this one guy whom I'd known for nearly 10 years of my life. He was a lazy slub, slacking at work, constantly being difficult. When I was given the promotion to managment, it was suddenly an issue of me being female and all the men "liking" me, or worse. Nice huh?
I'm a hard worker. I am paranoid when it comes to failure and I try really hard to do my best when working. Oh, I slack sometimes, but I still try to be as accurate as possible. Maybe if he had any work ethic, he would have made a decent field manager. Things in life aren't just handed to you on a platter. You have to earn them folks.
I digress though, I get a long well with all my male co-workers. I'm "one of the guys" I suppose, and they accept me unconditionally. Then again, I've made it clear that I'm not offended by their "brash male" behavior and thier sometiems vulgar teasing of one another. Perhaps it's because I've never complained about having to do work that would be considered "too hard" for a chick, and often jumped into the middle of hard labor to help them out. I'm not afraid of working on a truck or taking apart a pump. I'm not afraid of the chemicals I work with (though I do follow all saftey required of the EPA and MSDS sheets...everyone should). I think they respect that...I guess. I dunno.
I can't stand girls who stand around and wait for a guy to do everything for them. That just pisses me off. I'm hardly a feminist. I mean, if a guy wants to be nice and help me out, I think it's pretty cool. I'm talking about the girls who EXPECT IT. That really gets me. Especially the ones who start working in male dominated fields...they're the ones who give girls like me a bad name...News flash to all the brain dead broads out there, if you CAN'T do the job, don't apply. If you don't like hearing guys tell stupid jokes or rib each other, DON'T APPLY...don't waltz into a job and expect them to change it to all pink flowers and cutsie wutise things...Go work at the Bon or something....
I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this one, women should feel comfortable in the work place and should be accomidated....TO A POINT. The work place shouldn't be totally overhauled just because a girl decided to join the crew. Oh, I like having my own bathroom, and I appricate the rules that are in place to protect me from those asswipes that DO directly discriminate against women, whether they can do the job or not, but I DON'T agree with women making demands when they walk into a job that the know is going to be mostly men.
When I first started working, everyone walked around on tiptoes around me. There was no swearing, no jokes, no having fun, no picking on me, no nothing. Everyone was so uptight, it made me feel out of place. I started to think that they didn't want me around, and that could have been true. One day, our branch manager visisted and made a joke, and I popped off back to him. Everything changed after that...*laughs* The guys I worked with went back to being guys, and I fit in like the little sister they never had to abuse...*laughs* It's been that way ever since.
It's interesting to watch as we hire new people too. Most are guys, well, all of them are, and they treat me the same way I was when I was first hired. It's usually short lived, when they see everyone else picking on me and me dishing it back, but I still have to wonder about society and it's standards.
Sexual harrassment is a big issue. Sexual discrimination is a big issue. There are jerks who manhandle women and hold them down, but being where I am and in the jobs I've worked, I'm pressed to believe it's as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I went to college knowing that my field was mainly men. I've worked jobs that were usually slotted for men. I've worked with men and very few females. I haven't had the half the problems I read about in the news and what not. Surprisingly, most of the complaints come from office workers and military...if that says anything....so where do all these lawsuits come from? Why are they happening? Is it because some tight ass woman has her panites in a twist over a dirty joke told at the water cooler? Did her boss give a promotion to a girl who happenes to look better than her AND be a hard worker? How often to women get sued for making cracks like "Girl rule and guys drool"? Not very often...
I feel bad for men sometimes...cause us women are a caniving bunch of harpies. I'll admit it. We get pissed about something, and it's all about being vindictive. I could never be a lesbian...I can't stand other women *laughs real hard*. Honestly, I've only had three close girlfriends in my life (girlfriends and is a girl that is my friend for those of you who don't get it) for the exact reason that I know women are sneaky, backstabbing, and lairs. ESPECIALLY TO EACH OTHER. Knowing this helped me find some really awesome girlfriends who were honest (bluntly honest ha ha), fun to hang out with, total "real", etc. I'm still friends with them today, even though we've been out of school for 10 years. God Bless them. I've always admired the friendship men have with one another. Being a girl, that type of honesty and loyalty is hard to find amongst other women. (Don't believe all those stupid chick flicks about girls being a lovey dovey with each other, it's all a facade).
My two best friends in the whole world are men. I've been friends with them for a long time and there are no "strings attached" or "benifits" in our relationships. They are just my friends and I love them both to death. I think men and women being friends with one another, and just friends, is totally plausable. In my experience, there's an honesty that exists between my two best friends and I that we wouldn't get with our friends of the same sex. They don't need to act all macho and studly and I don't need to try and act the part of an acceptable chick in today's society. (then again, I don't think I've ever really conformed too much...LOL).
I sound like a woman hater. LOL I'm not. I'm damn happy I'm a girl. I'm not a "girly" girl. I don't like pink, I don't think Oprah is just totally cool, I hate to shop, and I refuse to wear a dress. Do I act like a girl? Sure. I am one. But I don't run around like a bumbling idiot and I don't think everything is "cute". I don't NEED to fix my hair everyday, I DON'T need to paint my nails, I DON'T need to get dressed up just to go to the mall...I'm still a girl. I like rock and roll, I hate pop...I like hockey and horseracing...I think Martha Stewart blows...I can't cook, I can't sew...I like action flicks where lots of things blow up...I can't stand goodie goodie chick flicks where everyone loves each other...
Being a mom, I'm glad I had a boy. I don't think I could raise a girl to thrive in society. I know that sounds strange, but I refuse to conform to the status that women are bound too...meaning, I refuse to be a girlie girl...sometimes just being myself is difficult. LOL And honestly, I don't think I could relate to a girl well. Having a son, I feel like I can relate to him better. We have a lot of fun talking about things like sports, cartoons, nature, etc. He tells me about his hunting trips with his dad, and I understand. I encourage him to do sports and and truly excited when he does well. We like the same movies. I think I understand him better than I would a girl. At the same time, I'm doing what I can to teach him to respect women and treat them well, but not to get walked on by them...I hope I do okay...
Do I think men should treat women with respect? Sure do. And I think women should treat men with respect. Common courtesy goes a long way. If a guy holds a door for me or opens the car door, I don't mind, I find it endearing...but I don't expect him to do it. Maybe if people could remember to be kind to one another and respect one another, the divorce rate wouldn't be so damn high...
Anyhoo...this is all over the place...I know...It's just a plethora of my random thoughts on things. I really don't have the energy to organize these posts into something intellegent...LOL
Till next time!
Posted by Zoso at May 16, 2004 12:36 AM