Friday, August 31, 2007

I am woman...let me at the big toys!

Remember when road construction jobs were pretty much "men only" unless you were a super butch chick who wanted to hold the "Stop/Slow" sign?

Well, times have changed. Now women drive the steamroller thingies and the dump trucks and the asphalt digger-upper machine (that's it's technical name, in case you were wondering) and the guys, they hold the signs. Seriously. How cool is that?

There is a massive construction zone on my commute and I just noticed last night that a majority of the construction workers are women. And not the butch type either. It was SO pleasant to see women finally break the gender barriers in that particular field. I have hope again!

About a year ago I took one of those match-your-personality-to-your-ideal-job tests and discovered I was never meant to drive a keyboard while locked in an office. I was destined to operate heavy machinery. The test informed me: "Your ideal career is handling heavy machinery, ideally, you would be most happy operating a bulldozer or a wrecking ball." Sometimes, I wonder if I should just ditch this job, get certified on some piece of heavy machinery, and spend the rest of my days in a work zone that requires a hard hat.

Which, now that I think about it, would explain my current love affair with the Dodge Ram. I've named my big, beautiful truck "Black Betty," by the way, and I'm going to marry her.

I wonder if women working on a construction site get paid as much as the guys because you know, nationally, women make just 70 percent of what men earn for doing the same job. Apparently, we don't have enough dangly parts to warrant a more "manly" salary.

I'm pretty darn sure, no, positive, that I fall into that 70 percent category at my current job. Which really bites big boogers. But, what can ya do?

7 comments:

MP said...

There are days when I wish I had a job that required me to make sure A went to B..or drive a truck from A to B...and you get an hour to do it. Like a courier??
I always wanted to work for the water department. 3 people to a job..one goes down the whole, the other person looks down the whole and the 3rd sits in the truck smoking ciggarettes.

Liz said...

Grow some BALLS is what you do!

Although I have yet to figure out how to do that myself. I actually don't see sex discrimination as much as I see age discrimination. But that probably just has to do with my field.

Jim Thomsen said...

Yeah ... show some big hairy nutsack!

Well, if you have hard numbers to back up your position first, that is ....

Until then, repeat after me:

"Whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
whoa, black betty (bam-BA-lam)
She really gets me high (bam-BA-lam)
You know that's no lie (bam-BA-lam)
She's so rock steady (bam-BA-lam)
She's always ready (bam-BA-lam)"

Lather, rinse and repeat.

Sona said...

Having watched Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs get to drive all kids of different machinery, I would agree that it looks like fun - in the short term. I think I would get bored moving dirt from point A to point B after a while.

Anonymous said...

Wrecking ball? That sounds SO awesome. When you're CEO of Ball Wreckers Inc (that's what I think you should call your demolition company, 'kay?) can I come work for you?

You can pay women standard wages and pay men 70% of what the women make. That way it will be a deterrent to men joining the company, and maybe even things out a bit for the future.

Anonymous said...

"...we don't have enough dangly parts?"

Ok, hate to admit this, but after going through the whole having a kid and getting older thing, I have 2 dangly parts that are much more impressive than a male's wee lil dangly parts. Does that warrant a raise?

Thank goodness for bras that fit well.

:)

Jenn said...

MP...I really like the idea of actually SEEING my progress at the end of the day. I've always been a hands-on, get dirty kind of girl.

Marriage 101...I'm trying! I'm trying! Not working so good.

Ninja... I'm a wimp when it comes to pushing for more money. I was supposed to have my annual review back in February, and I still haven't had it. Oh wait, I've never actually had a REAL review, they just toss an itty bitty raise my way every year without a word. This is an ongoing issue. And thank you for getting "Black Betty" stuck in my head! ROFL!

Sona...I want to knock things down or shove them around. Moving dirt from one pile to another would get quite boring.

Nell...You're ON! Ball Wreckers, Inc. hehehe!

Amy... O.M.G. You made me laugh until my stomach hurt! Good point...I DO have the dangly parts...just situated in the wrong location.