I am a female mechanic in a mecha line unit. I do a great job, and I can outwork any man in the outfit. We all get along fine, but I get tired of all these damn "female" jokes. I can't complain, because if I do, they will just say, "It must be that time of the month. ha ha ha.", but if I don't complain, then it will just go on. It doesn't really impact our work, and maybe I am being a little too sensitive, but it is still bugging the living hell out of me. I almost wish they would cross the line so I could at least just beat the crap out of a couple of them and get some of this stress out of my system. What do you think I should do?
Signed,
Deb "Brass Set of Marbles" Roache'-Hudak (289133)
Dear "Brass Set of Marbles",
Ouch! Well, that is a predicament. I am a grease monkey, and I have spent the past thirty plus years working on mechs and cleaning up other peoples' messes, BUT I am also a sergeant, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), and most importantly, a leader of soldiers. When you take the oath to become an NCO, you should also sign an agreement that says you have just agreed to become the parent/babysitter for every poor sap that just joined the service. You are in charge of soldiers' lives! As such, I have learned that the well being, physical, mental and emotional, of your soldiers is the most important priority in your private little patch of the universe.
If one of your soldiers feels uncomfortable about the way they are being treated, you have to figure out two things immediately; one, are they just being thin skinned little wimps ... or ... two, is it a very real and unacceptable situation. Joking around on the job is a very essential aspect of a high performance unit. It relieves stress and allows the squad to do the job, handle the reality of death and still move on without having complete mental break downs on a daily basis. That does not mean that humor at the expense of a fellow soldiers well being is acceptable behavior. If a joke causes someone else in the squad to feel degraded to the point of making their workplace a sentence rather than a privilege, then that needs to be stopped immediately.
You say that it doesn't impact your work and that you may be too sensitive about it, but you also say you can outwork any one else there. That tells me that you are a serious, top notch worker who has been around the block and therefore is not the type to be "thin skinned" about a few jokes. My advice is this; go to your shop supervisor and tell him that you are not comfortable with the sexist jokes being bantered around at your expense, but that you do not want to make things worse by adding the stress of people in your squad being reprimanded for your complaint. Then, ask him if instead of administering any corrective actions that may seem hostile, if he could instead schedule a squad meeting to have a Sexual Harassment Awareness Class. Then, if the behavior continues, more serious actions can be pursued at a later date, without it seeming as if you are being some form of head hunting female activist. Now, if all of that fails to work, just pack about a quarter ounce of synthetic explosive in the work bay toilet with a remote detonator and blow the privates off of the offending private.
Sincerely,
Monk "I should be a psycho analyst" Malone
Submitted by Ron Frye#879655