It's a Man's World, I Just Work In It

I saw this hanging in Bullock's office last week and found it quite hilarious! Why don't we have one of these posters here, dangit!

Airplanes, Grease, Tractors, Diesel Trucks, Chemicals, Radiators, Tail Wheels, Jump-Starting Diesel Trucks, What Size Container Facet Comes In and The Current Price of Jet A... What are things girls shouldn't have a clue about, Alex? Ding! Ding! Ding! That's right, we have a winner!

It's no secret that I'm surrounded by boys pretty much my entire day but I guess it just recently hit me that they are EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME!!!! Brother Bear, Shawn, Junior, G.W., Cupcake, Lonnie, Turbo, Woodrow, Kramer, Canine, Robert (the mechanic), David Bullock, Bullock's ground crew (including Rickey Bobby), Farmers, Auger Truck Drivers, Chemical Delivery Men, Field Scouts, Fuel Truck Drivers (mullet man), and even the UPS Man is a dude! They are crawling all over this place!

Seriously, sometimes the only chick that I actually see and communicate with for days on end is my mother. Work from 5:15-8:45 doesn't really allow for much else. I do get to have some verbal communication with other gals in the industry (Nikki Pippinger, Shannon Bullock, Regail Moritz, Sonya or Tonya at CPS in Almyra, and the chick that is always angry in Altheimer, but I don't really count her) although it's very limited. However, some days it can help to save what's left of my sanity... Nikki told me a special secret to the fertilizer world (a ton weighs 2,000lbs) and Shannon made some fabulous Ooey Gooey Heath Bar Cake! Thanks Girls!

Then there's the dudes... Oh the dudes... While working with a bunch of guys can't be totally comical, educational, confusing, frustrating, exhausting, hilarious, and eventful; it can also be very insightful. Ya see, no matter how rough, tough, and rugged most men want to act they almost always know how to mind their manners in front of a lady.

They apologize when they use curse word or expletives, even Rickey Bobby! They are always courteous and offer me snacks, soda, beer, or a chew of tobacco. (Thanks, but no thanks) They ask me how my days going. They ask my opinion. They seek my advice on lady friends and even sometimes take it! The best is when they start the conversation out by saying, "So you're a girl... what do you think about this?"... Why yes, yes I am a girl. Thanks for noticing!

Then other times they like to think of me as one of the guys. They talk about their bodily functions, scratch themselves in inappropriate places, tell raunchy jokes and sometimes tell me too much information. (T.M.I) I guess Cupcake said it best last Friday when he said, and I quote, "If you wanna hang out around men you're just gonna have to hear manly things." Hahaha

But at the end of the day, I think they really do have a lot of respect for me. Whether it's because I keep the same long hours they do, they see how hard I work, or because I keep them in line and let them have fun at the same time, I'm not really sure... I guess when you boil it all down I like to think I'm the brains and they are the brawn and together we make a beautiful team!... It may be a man's world but at least I get to control a little bit of it!

I like to think that James Brown got it right when he sang: "This is a man's world, But it wouldn't be nothing; nothing without a woman or a girl" ~Thank you Mr. Brown


**I wanted to title this post after my favorite chapter in Tina Fey's Bossypants book, "Peeing in Cups with Boys" but I didn't because I thought it might give my mom a heart attack. (She still makes everyone around her say, "Go to the bathroom" or "Tinkle" because the actual word "Pee" is horrifying to her.) Anyways in that chapter she talks about being one of the few women writers in comedy and having to deal men, who actually pee in cups & leave them around the office. The guys around the airport don't do that thankfully; however, workers from other flying services that use the airport to do fertilize jobs do "tinkle" out in the wide open and it's very unbecoming... (Yes, workers, I can see you. Just because you go to the other side of the loader truck doesn't mean you are camouflaged!)