But you're a girl

[Sailornight6]

yeah sorry i have been quite...midterms (just shoot me now) *sigh*
anyways to the point.

part of my job is to fetch shopping carts for a half an hour every couple of hours (can have as many as 5 and as little as three half hour shifts during work) it never fails i always have one customer come up to me and tells me
"i should let the men do that."
"But your a girl."

my reply is always the same, "i can do this job even better then some of the guys" which is true for some. or the "i like pushing carts." i will tell them in the back of my mind (because its a half hour away from the customers :P.

so i was wondering has anyone else had customers protest you doing you job becuase of your gender?

[Acolyte]

I had some old geezer tell me to 'stop mopping the floor, that's a woman's job' when I worked at McDonalds. I just looked at him and told him 'No, it's my job, because that's what the boss says and that's what they're paying me for.'

In service, there are no mens or womens jobs.

[blas]

I used to give the cart boys their breaks at the grocery store (if I was bagging, not cashiering) once in a while, because all the other girls whined that they couldn't do it or it was too cold......

I could only take a few at a time, but it felt so good to get outside and away from the customers. Got my blood flowing and opened up my sinuses.

People in that sexist state of mind need to be shipped to the desert along with the inbreds that are still throwing around racial slurs like it's still the 60s.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

No, but I did have clients in public television, women who were younger than I am, call down to the crew because they wanted someone to move some boxes for them (they weren't heavy, I think these ladies just didn't want to move their own crap. Either that, or they saw some of the male crew and were hoping for a little eye candy to be sent their way. ) I volunteered. While I will be the first to call a stronger man to do some lifting if something's too much for me, the idea that a woman has to go crying to a man for every little thing she needs moved annoys me.

They saw me shlepping their crap onto a hand truck, tittered nervously, and then tried the "Oh, we're old, honey. We can't be lifting stuff." Knowing I was older than them by a fair amount and that they didn't realize it, I laughed in a friendly way and said, "I know what you mean, I haven't seen 20 in 20 years!" Don't think they expected that.

I have been mistaken for a man when I did a short stint at an industrial photo lab mainenence place. I was the first chick to hold that position, and someone called out to me as I was mixing chemistry one afternoon "Sir? Sir? Excuse me, Sir!?" I looked up and raised my goggles and they visibly did a double take. "Oh! " "So sorry, miss!" (granted, I was wearing jeans, a man's workshirt, a rubber apron, rubber gloves, goggles, and a greek fisherman's hat. I had long hair, but it was braided and hanging down my back. But I do NOT look like a man. I thought it was pretty funny. They didn't expect a chick to working in that place.

[Sailornight6]

I used to give the cart boys their breaks at the grocery store (if I was bagging, not cashiering) once in a while, because all the other girls whined that they couldn't do it or it was too cold......

i am one of the few odd ball girls who likes the cold, i only whine when it is to hot. my motto has always been you can always layer up when it is cold outside...but managment doesn't look to kindly on you doing carts naked.

[Dips]

I had some old geezer tell me to 'stop mopping the floor, that's a woman's job'

Heh. He was probably scared his wife would see a man doing a "woman's job." Then the jig would be up and he'd have to start doing some work at home.

My husband LOVES telling our rude and lazy neighbor and his wife about all the housework he does. The wife is like "Why can't you be more like Mr. Dips?" and the neighbor gives Mr. Dips the glare-o-death.

Mr. Dips and I find it quite funny.

[draftermatt]

Gender, no not so much. My dad did a lot of house work and I do to. I don't believe much of anything for mens/women's. My boss will do it when we have a female engineer, architect, builder. Not to their face, but to me (which is annoying).

I get it for my race sometimes. If I'm helping out in the plant one of the supervisors will say things like "let the Mexicans do that" Which is equally bad.

[Becks]

Oddly enough, it's some of my male coworkers who do it. They notice that I'm hauling around heavy boxes and tell me it's men's work. Of course, THEY don't help me with it, so...

Blah.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I did engage in a bit of sexism once with my boss at public television, who then beat me at my own game.

Big roach was running around the studio. Okay, look, I am a screaming little girl when it comes to roaches. I went to him and said, "You have to go kill that roach!"

Boss: Why can't you do it?
Me: You're the man!
Boss goes into studio, jumps on roach and kills it.

Boss: There. You're the woman. Clean it up.

[SuperB]

Boss: Why can't you do it?
Me: You're the man!
Boss goes into studio, jumps on roach and kills it.

Boss: There. You're the woman. Clean it up.

I'm sorry, I can imagine the frustration at the time but that was funny.

[Kara]

I used to put the boys to shame at Kroger when I was a lowly bagger. They would usually only bring in about 4-5 carts at a time, no matter how full the lot was. I found that I could push 9 carts before I the ability to steer them around corners (It saved me the trouble of having to run in and out so many times, and it just made logical sense to bring in as many as possible). On really busy days, the floor manager would see me pushing in as many carts as I could maneuver, then snap at one of the boys who came in or was on his way in to get his ass out there and bring in those carts.

Fortunately, they made the boys clean up all the messes (customers spilling things, breaking jars, and various bodily fluids). The only exception was the ladies bathroom. and there are some harrowing tales I could share about that particular subject. Bottom line: If you think there's even a slight possibility that you can't get your geriatric muscles in gear to make it in time in a bustling grocery store where the restroom is upstairs, then swallow your pride and wear a diaper!

[Noelegy]

In service, there are no mens or womens jobs.

Forgive the indelicate language, but there's a fabulous quote from a feminist lawyer to the effect of "There are very few jobs that require either a penis or a vagina."

[Drakstern]

When I worked at a grocery store, baggers had to get carts regardless of gender. I did it even after I went up to cashier and later cash office(except in the winter, Raynauld's and all. Dry gangrene = not on my Christmas list tyvm.)

The ones who whined the most were the boys. Seriously. "I don't wanna get carts." "It's too hot." "It's too cold." "It's raining."

The girls would just go out and get it over with, for the most part. Most of them couldn't do 10 carts at once or anything(note, I say most of them), but since we weren't supposed to(note, I say 'supposed to) bring in more than five at a time that didn't matter.

Though there was one girl that was known for lining 20 up and straight shotting them to the doors at night... Even I wouldn't do that.

[ContraCorriente]

@ the roach story.

That happened to me once. I was working fast food and in the trash bins in the dining room, someone had forgotten to put the actual can back in, so when I opened the door, nasty food came spilling out on me. One guy told me, "Well that's shitty for you." A few ladies were appalled that management was making me, a woman, clean it up. The horra.

[BookstoreEscapee]

my motto has always been you can always layer up when it is cold outside...but managment doesn't look to kindly on you doing carts naked.

That's always been my theory too. You can always put on a sweater but there's only so much you can take off. Even so, I do wish my dad would turn up the heat a smidge.

I work with books and when I'm bringing boxes in/out of my cube I have to walk past my boss's office. If he sees me he asks if I need help. He just doesn't seem to trust me to not pick up stuff that's too heavy. Believe me, I learned that lesson years ago. If I need help, I will tell you.

I never got "that's a guy's job" or anything, but I used to work receiving a lot and there are probably some people who would think that. But the customers didn't see me back there - reason #1 why I loved it! The guys I've worked with have always been good about moving heavy stuff for us delicate little girls. *bats eyelashes*