My previous places of employment have always been predominantly male environments (Fiber Optics, Software Development Consulting) and I have always been in an even more strongly male dominated subset of those industries: IT. So I haven’t had the opportunity to work around many females in the corporate world. Now that I’m in the financial sector, I’m still surrounded by men because I’m still in IT, but the rest of the office is full of females. As a result, I’ve noticed a fundamental difference between men and women in the workplace: These women love to decorate. They decorate everything for every occasion. They even decorate themselves every single freaking day. We IT people seem to have other things going on in our minds and we never really give too much attention to how we are dressed – so when my company says the dress policy is casual, we IT people really take it to heart – we show up in jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies every day. Quick and comfortable. These other women show up every day dressed to the nines (whatever that means).
But I digress….what I really want to get into is this strange compulsion women (disclaimer: not all women, just a significant number of them) at work have to decorate their cubes/offices/general areas. Women at my office had Halloween decorations/Halloween lights/dead Halloween trees with ornaments on them/etc all over the place. Several of these women even went so far as to decorate their offices/cubes to match what was to be their costume that year – Little Bo Peep had standing cardboard cutouts of sheep and Astroturf all over the floor of her office. All the Halloween decorations came down the first workday in November in order to make way for the Thanksgiving decorations which were equally elaborate. And the first work day in December those came down to make way for mini Christmas trees/lights/ornaments/snowflakes/snowmen/etc. It’s a veritable feast for the eyes in this place. I’m expecting great things for New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. In contrast, however, the men that work here - their idea of decorating is putting a diploma on the wall and placing some sort of action figure beside their monitors….and these things never get cycled out, no matter what holiday is approaching.
On an entirely separate note, I’m pleased to announce that I am now working a 4x10 schedule and, starting next week, I am being allowed to work one of those 10 hour days from the comfort of my own home. So from now on I’ll only be driving to the office 3 days a week. Hallelujah!
6 comments:
I am totally offended by your misogynistic post. What the hec is wrong with a little astro-turf, or some red and green flashing Christmas lightbulb earrings, for that matter?
Okay, I jest. Actually, your post reminded me of certain female surgeons that would tromp into our surgery suites with the click- clack of their high heels. That sound always grated on my nerves, as stilettos seem a little overdone for an operating room. Maybe that's just me.
is this a CA thing? I have never heard of anyone going so crazy with the holiday cube decor at Ms. Bo Peep!
That is just too much! What must her house look like?!
The first of each year I try to think of friends that I no longer see or very infrequently see and Charlotte came to mind. HOW ARE YOU?
I reviewed you blog to try to get caught up with you. I do find it strange that there is no mention of something that was very important to you when you left NM; training. Did you drop it with the move?
Three months ago a learned of a personal trainer (where the pool is) that conducted noon classes 5 days a week. Two days is just what i was looking for; exercises for the core and abs. The other days are spinning. Well I thought i would give spinning a try and it was a very humbling experience. So, since first of November i have been do all five days. I never thought that I would be doing spinning with a bunch of women; they were kicking my @ss for several weeks.
Hope you have a good year and I will try to pop in on you from time to time. FrankS, NM bus bud
Hey Charlotte! I linked to your blog from my blog. Hope that's cool with you. I'm sorry I couldn't come hang out with you guys when Ross was done. It sounded like you had fun. But what can I say? I'm the slave of retail.
Awww Frank!
It's so nice to hear from you again! I'm glad to hear you're doing well. And I'm pleased to hear that you're getting your "@ss kicked" by a bunch of women in the spinning class. It's so great that you're doing all that. If I was still there I'd join you! But don't worry about me, I'm still training! As aways.
SURPRISE! YOU DIDN'T KNOW I COULD DO THIS. I ALSO READ YOUR BLOG FROM TIME TO TIME. YOU'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK AGAIN I SEE. LOVE JND.
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