Sorry for the long hiatus, but work as been a source of depression this last week. I want to just write silly posts judging bathroom and oogling at big equipment, but sometimes this job gets serious, and team members don't work together.
What happened is the kind of thing that makes women scarce in this field. It's the stereotypical danger in hiring a woman. It's what all that sensitivity training that people roll their eyes at is for.
I was yelled at and disrespected and harassed. [If you want the story, message me.] Long story short, I talked to my supervisor after trying to brush aside the whole thing, and I got removed from the jobsite (at my supervisor's advice and to my agreement.)
Problem solved! Yay right? Nope, I've been on boring projects ever since, and even though there is a need for me on that jobsite, they have to overwork a different co-op to cover my absence.
The worst part is now I feel people are watching me harder, like judging my personality or the way I approach others to see if I could have brought this harassment on myself.
Today I was at a jobsite, and I was working with a new engineer and two inspectors. The engineer was female, and one of the inspectors was an old MDOT employee. The engineer said talking to the inspectors, "I had lunch today with your boss." And the old MDOT guy said, "Oh, did you sleep with him?" She was embarrassed at his comment, but she just continued on the conversation. It's just obnoxious. She's a married woman and a mother. She's their boss for goodness sake.
Sometimes I have to really remember why I am going into this field, filled with idiots who will never respect me, no matter my title, education, or experience.
