The Like/Hate Thread

[Sage]

Hate: At the end of the day, AFTER I've clocked out, I see a customer approach the terminal I'm standing by. Even though I'm technically done, I always make sure customers are taken care of so they can have a great experience at my store. Smiling, I turn to him.

"Oh, sorry, sir, I've just clocked out and I'm overtime. Let me find-"
"No, I don't want your help. Find a man. Only a man."

You know, I have put up with the daily "Are you really a Geek?" / "I didn't know they had GIRL Geeks!" variations and don't say a fucking word. I've put up with people asking me to find a second opinion as they look at one of my male coworkers even when I can say with absolute certainty that their motherboard has failed or that they have a rogue antivirus or that they fucking cracked their screen like an idiot.

I know that everybody thinks I take feminism too seriously. It's because I have to deal with this shit every single day and I can't just give every close-minded customer a lecture about gender equality and the history of women in computers or I would lose my fucking job. I need to fight back in some way. Shit like this happens all the time to all sorts of women in all sorts of situations and people just don't notice (or care).

/rant

If it makes you feel any better, I used to work for a construction supply store. One of my best coworkers was this girl Alison, who absolutely knew her stuff. When I was new, people would go right past her to ask me something I didn't know, only for me to point them back at her.

I'm a bit surprised it's something you have to deal with in the technology field; I thought that sort of attitude was only alive in the trades, so to speak.

On the plus side, people like that are a dying breed.