Just a Little Girl

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.

Being a Woman: The Vibrator

This might contain adult content.

When I was at college, knowing that I would be an inspector, I tried to find other people who've done this job in their region, and ask them questions or ask for advice. Sure, the people at my office would be helpful, but sometimes there are things that you can only learn from another peer.

In my quest to find another inspector, I lucked out and found not only an inspector from a region similar to my own in traffic counts and road types, but she was a woman. I asked away. She gave me the normal advice like most people I had talked to, but then when we got on the subject of gender-difference and how that effects your interactions with the contractor, she said something like the following (it's been a while so maybe I'm adding to it a bit):

-They will "give you shit" (That's what we all call teasing on the field. It's different than normal teasing, but I can't explain how.), just go with it
-They already don't respect you because you are young and have no experience, so remember that if you have problems
-Lift things and don't be lazy, don't expect anyone to do anything for you if you want to be treated equal
-BUT never be afraid to ask for help when you need it (Truth: it's better to ask dignified than to embarrassingly struggle and maybe get hurt)
-It's one thing for the contractor not to respect you, but if the MDOT inspector gives you problems, don't put up with it, and tell a supervisor right away
-Don't be nervous, just be confident and make sure they do what you say at the end of the day


Then the weirdest thing she said after she was racking her brain for anymore advice was this:
"Oh! *laughs* There's this thing they use for concrete and it looks like a dildo. I'm not sure what the official title of it is, but, yeah, yeah you'll see what I mean. The contractor never openly used it to make fun of me, because the other inspector was always there for concrete pouring, but they would have if he wasn't there, so just be aware of that."

So yeah. This is what she was talking about:

It's the thing in the middle of the picture, straight up and down in the concrete. It vibrates. The purpose of this is to vibrate the concrete so it gets into all of the corners and around the rebar and whatnot. The second it touches the concrete, it just sort of.... relaxes?? It's all tense and rigid with aggregate sticking up, and then all of a sudden it just... liquids with no aggregate on top.

I wanted to know WHAT this could possibly be called, and it's..... a vibrator. 

There is a whole page about the vibrator. It makes sense, but it's just like... teehee.

I probably wouldn't be so middle-school about this if that other student inspector didn't mention it. Now I'm paranoid for the day they make some sexual joke about it to me. I keep trying to think of a good comeback, but mine are all lame and don't make any sense.

Ticks

Source: http://www.mainelyme.org/

Ticks. Ticks are the ban of my existence. Three were on my today. I lost count of my ticks in order to maintain sanity. They are the most vile of insects. Blood-sucking, six-legged, disease-carrying drudgeries of the planet. As the truck driver put it, "Mosquitoes and ticks, I tell ya. Nature's vampires."

One day, I was working with a laborer who was.... unaccustomed to working with a young woman as an inspector and he was trying to frighten/gross me out with typical things that would scare young women. I had a bug on me, and one of the laborers got it off. Nonplussed, I thanked them.

"You ain't scared?"
"As long as it's not a tick."
"Oh ticks are nothing, I seen real big spiders round here. This big! Creeping and crawlin-"
"But ticks are densely populated in this area. They latch on."
"Pshh ticks! I've seen rats coming out of the sewer that can nibble on your--"
"Ticks latch on after crawling anywhere on your body, then start sucking your blood until they fill up like a balloon and waddle away. You find one, and try to take it out, it's head becomes dislodged in your skin. Sometimes only removal by surgery."
"Snakes!!! There are poisonous snakes in this area that you have to watch out for. They slither around in the grass. Just a few years ago, me and Jim were poking one in the grass and it coulda jumped and snapped---"
"Ticks carry LYME'S disease. That means with one bite you are looking at flu-like symptoms, joint pain, future heart problems, ect. The tick population is the record high in this area this year, and tons of the ticks carry lyme's disease. Snake? They don't have lyme's disease. And there aren't like 4 that crawl up and down you a day. The only way to prevent tick bites is checking over yourself throughout the day, wearing tight clothing, and spraying tons of deet."
"Oh wow, yeah, I better get some deet..."

After my first day of ticks, I thoroughly researched it and did this PSA whenever new laborers came on site and didn't freak out when someone had a tick on them, which was every often. The more you know~

Ticks and distracted drivers. Nothing in this world is more terrifying on a construction site.



For more information on ticks, check out these sources! 
 http://www.michiganradio.org/post/theres-tick-boom-michigan-here-are-5-things-you-should-know
 http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/

Nature's Call

Panera, St. Joseph

Bathrooms of Berrien.
The sights, sounds, and smells of a woman in construction.

I didn't want to write a blog at first. Blogs are so impersonal and open to any audience. But after the bewailing of my family to write my crazy stories down, with pictures, I decided to cave in.

You see, I work in construction. I am also a woman. I'm also blonde. Now, I'm no feminist, but being a male-dominated field for a while, some things are hard to change for the 21st century. Though, they aren't the things you'd think of right away. Let me tell you a story.

My first week of work, I was ready. I was ready to not take any of the shit they'll give me, I'll have a air that demands respect, and I'll be confident. Confidence is key. And.... it worked! They called me boss and listened to everything I said. It was waaay too easy. My friend always warned me, "Hey, they're going to try to lure you away, you know, like get you to look at something else or tell you to take lunch or something. Don't let them. Make sure you watch them like an eagle. The more they tell you to look away, the more you should watch them."

So one day Marc turned to me and said, "Uhhhhh look that way for a little bit. Like over the river or something, just not back there."  I grinned and said "Why? Doing something you shouldn't be?" and I turn to see a guy ready to unzip his fly to pee on the side of the road. "Oh."

And that's when the division of sexes became apparent. Sure there are port-a-potties on site, but no one uses them. Literally no one. They have been sitting there since the beginning of the project and maybe their good in the first week, but I'm not going in there. My rump has to touch that thing. Call me a princess, but I'd rather drive miles to a bathroom than use that thing.

That's what I do. Drive to the closest bathroom. And throughout the Berrien County area, I've stumbled upon some.... interesting bathrooms. I hope to share these interesting bathrooms with you as I continue my construction employment for the next 2 months.

Enjoy!