I was on the train yesterday morning, heading into work & overheard a cell phone conversation where a woman was talking with her boss. It seemed as though she was getting some sort of evaluation & I found her responses most interesting. There was ALWAYS something or someone to point the finger at. I never heard... yea, that sounds fair or... yea, I should work on that. No, there were "good" reasons for all of her shortcomings & none of them have anything to do with her own behavior / performance.
I couldn't help thinking that all of the excuses for the behaviors of women in our legal system & media as well as other factors are creating a culture where women really feel that they aren't at all responsible for their own actions.
The woman went on to describe how her male predecessor in her job title had people "reaching out" to him socially & would go places with him & have a good bond. She wondered why this was not happening with her & blamed those around her. I thought of 2 reasons why the male had more luck with the social scene:
1. Maybe the man WORKED at those relationships & spent the necessary time it took to build relationships with his co-workers rather than expecting everyone else to do it for him & chase him down to do things.
2. Maybe the men in the office don't want to be sued for sexual harassment so they won't ask a female employee to do anything for fear of losing their career.
3. Both
...Well, it was an interesting ride to say the least & the whole time my "mental sarcasm" was boiling over. ...Good times.
