Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Message to "She Wolf"

Hey again, She Wolf! Good to hear back from you.
Well to start off, It should not matter if you are gay or not! You are still a female, under it all. I could see where your lawyer may think it may be a problem but, being mistreated in the work place is unaccetable wether you are a man or a woman!
I also wanted to say from what I have found in Ohio, is that most places are ok with hiring women. Most even have what they call "Female Quota", meaning they have to have so many females on the payroll. I have never been turned down for a welding job because I was a female, usually it gave me an advantage over a male. But once in, the proving began...
1 reason I think I didn't get My bosses job was because they never had a female boss there before. The man that was doing the hiring was an old fart and retired 2 years later. I believe times have change in some places, just not with some people!
I have met 2 other female instructors. 1 was mine in college 20 years ago (WOW), anyways, I was happy to have a female role model for once in this field. Had already had 2 years of training with all guys. But, the idea of her being a role model changed quickly. She gave herself the personna that she was the "first female to be a welder". She would start all her intros with I was the 1st female to do... and she a newspaper clipping hanging just as you walked into the lab. Made me want to barf!!! She was also all for the guys, smoked with them, flirted with them. When I would ask for her help, she would tell me "go figure it out yourself"! Thats when I relized at the age of 18, that being a women in this field you have to watch out for other women, they are not always on your side. I vowed at that point on, if I was ever gonna be a teacher I would not be like her! I remind myself of that every once in awhile to keep myself in check. I ended up finding a great Instructor who help me in his spare time, (for her class) whom I will always be greatful too.
The 2nd I just met a couple of weeks ago, in Columbus Ohio for a high school compition in welding called Skills USA. She teaches in Southern Ohio, we just had a brief conversation. Mostly about my brother, he just finished her class. Now Him and I are the only 2 welders in the family. He said she was tough and liked to chew tabacco, thats all he really said about her.
I myself am a girly, girl. Well, not real girly!
I do fix and hair, and wouldn't be caught in public without makeup, but I don't wear dresses!
That was one of my issues in the work place, not so much in the classroom. I got hit on lots and that would cause my mistreatments on the occasion I didn't flirt with them back. Men would come to work bitching at me that their wives were constantly asking about me and worried I was out to steal their man. Some would say they was on a tight rope. If they were a few minutes late from work they were being asked if they were with me. That knd of thing got old, real fast. Once I got married, everyone settled down.
I guess once I was describe as a "Welding Instructor, that was a real Girl!!" Ha. I got a laugh out of that one. I'll save that story for next time. Nice chatting to you again, She wolf.
Until next time... Happy Welding! Von Miller