re: #504 ArmyWife

I am HR - in a male dominated environment. In fact, I am the only female senior manager. But I have pull, baby. If I don’t say it’s ok, it doesn’t happen. I’ve never, ever asked to be treated differently, I can go in the plant and get just as dirty as the next guy. I work my tail off, and deliver results. That said, I get cat calls from contractors when I walk around the plant (followed by one of the Union guys running over, whispering who I am, and them suddenly walking in the opposite direction at a very fast clip). Heck, I had the president of the AFL-CIO tell my union president if he had a labor relations expert that looked like me, he’d be filing grievances left and right too. I doubt my male counterparts hear that often. But I don’t get incensed and outraged, I laugh and kick their tails in arbitration.

{standing up and applauding}

You go, girl. For me, the accolades are different. No one ever gave me cat calls except my husband. :D But I was able to solve some programming problems at work that many guys never were able to do. I got some serious cred for doing so amongst the guys that counted. I am about to do it again at work on a current project; I’m doing a demo next week to at least two higher-level managers who can’t do what I’m doing.

[breathes on knuckles, rubs them off on my shirt]