March 29: Writing Prompt #88-Trading Spaces

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a member of the opposite sex for a day? What do you think life would be like?

I can’t say that I’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be a guy, but I think it would, in many ways, be much simpler on a day-to-day basis, and I don’t mean that in an offensive way. For example, I work at a place that is 98% female.  There are exactly 3 males on our staff of over 150.  My husband often comes home and listens to my stories about work, and in response says, “Well, that would have been handled totally differently where I work.” Needless to say, he works in a facility that is probably about 98% male.  There’s very little time spent in worrying about each other’s feelings or even bringing up feelings.  They say what some of us women would consider “rude” things to each other, harass each other in fun, and generally don’t take what they say to each other all that seriously (except when they are really talking work related issues that are serious). 

At my work, I regularly see and even shed tears, listen to heart breaking stories from my colleagues, and serve as a sort of sounding board if you will for those who just need to vent, and none of those things are officially part of my job description.  I am, for the most part, the sort of person that others feel comfortable sharing with, and that’s okay with me. I like to get to know those I work with, develop relationships with them because it makes us all more human, more able to empathize with each other and more apt to take care of each other. After all, work is a huge percentage of our lives, if we work full time for 20 or more years before retirement, so we better take the time to look after each other or that 20+ years is going to seem like 40 and may be pretty miserable.  That said, I think about what it would be like to work with a group of all men, and I’m not sure I’d want to.  There would surely be less tears, venting sessions, and emotions overall, but there’d also be less getting to know each other, sharing in each other’s lives, and less connection too. And as a woman, I think we thrive on and need that connection to someone and to some purpose in our work and our lives. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying men do not want to feel connected to someone and have purpose in their lives, but I do think they go about getting this in very different ways, and that’s okay too. I don’t mind being a woman. I like it most days.  I do think sometimes that as women we don’t support each other enough. Men sometimes are better at this, but we all have things to work on, right? And one of my goals in life is to work on my relationships with people daily and be a support and encouragement to each and every one of them both individually and as a team. I’m not perfect, and I make plenty of mistakes, but hopefully they are all forgivable. J Love you ladies AND gents!