Woman In A Male World
The year was 1989. I was a female computer tech. As Computer Production Coordinator, my job included troubleshooting computers, printers, and Internet connections for 103 employees and thousands of students who might call our 3 busy phone lines for help. Sometimes I could walk them through dialing into the library catalog via modem. Other problems, I had to go to their desk.
That particular day, a gentleman was on the phone demanding I replace his Mac computer, that simply 'wasn't working.' He asked for my boss, who was not at his desk. This didn't surprise me at all. The Systems Department at Georgia Tech was very busy. My hard-working boss often had to go to meetings with other departments or the library administration. The unfortunate man called back and got me again. My attempts to ask him the standard questions didn't get me enough information to figure out what exactly the problem was. So, I dropped everything and went to his desk.
He showed me how he moved the mouse and the cursor stayed in one spot.
I lifted the mouse and the problem was embarrassingly obvious. "Your mouse ball is dirty. I think if we clean it, your Mac will work just fine."
He grew very impatient with me as I turned the mouse over, put pressure on the spring-loaded plastic ring, and turned it to release it. I carefully showed him each step so he could do this himself.
We went into the rest room and I washed the mouse ball with the bare minimum of soap from the dispenser on the wall. Just a drop. I lathered it up and rinsed it very thoroughly, then wrapped it briefly in a paper towel. I repeated this until the ball was absolutely dry.
We walked back to his desk, and I carried some wet paper towels to clean the area where he used the mouse. At that time, no one in the library had a mouse pad. We used our mice on the desks. Dust was rampant. His desk had quite a layer of dust and it took many paper towels, wet and then dry, to get it clean.
The mouse worked perfectly. He stopped his complaints. I wished him a nice day.
That was one of two negative experiences I had in probably hundreds of personal visits over the year and a half I worked in Systems. The vast majority of employees, male or female, were friendly and didn't mind me being female and working to fix their computer problems.
Employees in the library were about evenly split between males and females. When I started working in Systems, there were 6 of us. I was one of 3 females. In the Systems Department, there was absolutely no discrimination against us females. We got a lot of work done.
I don't think I ever had a computer problem to fix in that department again. The rudeness of that fella did hurt, but at least I didn't have to deal with him again. Most people greeted me with a smile and let me show them how to keep their equipment running longer. And, wanted to learn.
Today, things are changing in a bad direction. Salaries for females have never been equal to a male in the same position. People of color also experience this, versus a white male. I am sad to see this war on DEI. People should know that DEI means, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It doesn't mean you select unqualified people just because they are female, or a person of color, or a disabled person. It means, you have to consider qualified people in those categories.
Some politicians would tell you that there aren't enough people who are female, or a person of color, or a disabled person, who are qualified, who deserve to be considered.
I disagree. Both women I worked with in System were Black. They were both just as intelligent as I was, and just as hard-working as any man in our department. All of us worked together as a team. All of us worked hard. All of us were pretty intelligent. Stupid people aren't as good at troubleshooting computers or being 'techy'. Intelligence is a measure of how well you can solve difficult problems.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying intelligence is a measure of worthiness or value as a human being. I've known people with disabilities in the intelligence category who were warm, pleasant, and valued humans in my life. One of the housekeeping staff in the University Of Utah Library comes to mind. Everyone loved him. He worked hard at his job to keep the library clean. By the way, he was white.
But, I give this example, of my job that required me to be intelligent, and the two women who enriched my life and taught me how to be a computer tech. Men in the department also taught me and were kind. As I said, we worked as a team. Our diversity never interfered with the work, or with our ability to discuss it and solve daily problems.
DEI is not a problem, but the lack of it definitely is. Beware of lies from politicians!
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