For years he had been immune to the cries of sexism, disregarding them as the buzz of social media chatter. That is, until he found himself in the thick of it! Experiencing it was far from what he expected in the workplace.
The Front Lines of Customer Service
For years, our original poster, OP, honestly hadn’t understood when women would complain about sexism.
He hadn’t experienced it personally, and apart from a slew of tweets and Tumblr posts, he was clueless about the entire fuss.
It wasn’t until he battled shoulder to shoulder with his manager against the swarm of irate customers that he witnessed it firsthand.
From Denial to Discovery
Two examples in particular stood out to him.
The Unwanted Advance
One man was particularly memorable to OP because he was wearing a green shirt. That was the only thing that set him apart from the other daily nuisances.
They were getting overwhelmed as usual, with long queues, a noisy room, and total chaos. OP’s manager – a woman – was selling some boxes to the man.
An Uncomfortable Exchange
Manager: “Okay, that’s $38.85 for the bundle.”
Green Shirt: “You’re really pretty.”
Manager: “Thanks! So was there anything else?”
Green Shirt: “Uh… No not unless I can get your phone number!”
The Ugly Side
The manager politely laughed and processed the purchase. He paid, and the receipt printed.
But he wasn’t done being creepy! In fact, he decided he had to take it to a whole new level.
He reached over and made a real point of stroking her hand as he took the receipt!
She reflexively pulled her hand back but tried not to make a big deal about it.
Fiery Backlash
Unfortunately, the quick movement was noticed and upset him.
“Well you didn’t have to be such a stuck-up c*** about it!”
And with that, he stormed out the door.
This nonsense happened every single day to at least one of the female staff members in the place.
Unsavoury Customer Behaviour
OP had seen men sniff the manager’s hair, propose marriage the first time they met her, and one guy asked her out while she was setting up his trailer.
When she didn’t call him, he left a bad review.
Creepy Double Standards
And no, the manager wasn’t all dolled up in any special way. She looked like a regular person.
She wore the store uniform, just like everyone else.
So did OP, but he couldn’t remember the last time someone treated him the same way these men were treating his manager.
But That’s Not All
And this creepy behavior was only half of the problem.
The Struggle for Credibility
The other half was that nobody believed anything the manager said!
She knew way more about these trucks and trailers than OP did (although OP did excel at hitch installs), but men constantly deferred to OP for every type of question.
The Italian Customer
They once served an old Italian guy with a thick accent.
It was a positive and friendly interaction; he asked the manager questions, and she confidently provided the correct info, and everything was fine.
Except everything wasn’t fine.
He Second-Guessed Everything
Before he left, the customer said he wanted to speak “to the man here.”
He waited for OP to finish with his customer, and as soon as OP was free, the man started loudly second-guessing everything the manager had told him.
Taking a Stand
OP wasn’t going to let that fly!
Every time the Italian asked him a question, he made a big show of asking his manager if she could help him answer the question.
Somehow, the customer didn’t get the hint.
A New Perspective
This whole saga was an eye-opening exprience for OP.
He had no idea just how different the world was for women!
Sexism Is Everywhere
Social media users poured in to express their perspectives.
“Thanks for sharing. I know so many people that are not open to these insights. I discuss things like this often with a colleague who misunderstands a lot of misgivings some groups have. It is apparently very hard to appreciate hardships that are not directly your own,” one user said.
A woman complain, saying “I work as a female broker in the transportation industry. Despite the many degrading experiences I have had so far, the day-to-day negotiating with men who can’t and won’t take me seriously is the most exhausting.”
And a third user chimed in, “Yeah it really does get super exhausting, super quick.”
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The post He Saw the Sexism His Manager Deals With Up Close, and It Is Absolutely Infuriating first appeared on Career Step Up
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit
