Really?

I’ve always been taught it is wrong to stereotype people, yet it’s been happening to me a lot lately. Recently some comments have been made to me that just make me shake my head. Here are just a few examples…

The other day, one of the guys I work with was helping me take something out to my car. My lock on my trunk has been having issues and he was making fun of the fact that I had to pop the trunk from the inside of the car. I told him it really just needed some graphite, but I just hadn’t had time to take care of it. His comment... “I didn’t know girls knew what graphite was and what to do with it.” He genuinely looked surprised.

This last weekend when I had people over to my house for dinner, some of the guys saw my flooring sitting in a corner of the dining room and asked who was going to install it. I told them I was and you would have thought I dropped some sort of bomb shell. I told them I put up my own chair rail, the flooring couldn’t be any more difficult. One of the guys had to get up and go inspect my chair rail like he somehow doubted I did it (he was impressed by the way). Figuring out how to take the safety pin out of the miter saw was the hardest part (That was pretty funny!)

Then Monday, I was carrying a big container into the office and our office manager made some comment about my ability to carry it. It really wasn’t THAT heavy and I didn’t feel like waiting around for someone else to do it for me. And the women in my office are just as bad. All freaked out that Jamie and I were moving directory boxes by ourselves (there was no one else around to do it).

So here is my response to such comments (and I actually told the guy who made the “graphite” comment this). I am a single female, who has lived on her own for the last twelve years, now owns a house, who doesn’t have a dad to call on for such repairs, and all male relatives live too far away for day to day assistance. If I don’t do it myself, it probably won’t get done. But even I know my limitations and will call on assistance when necessary. But I have to say, you can learn a lot from the Internet. Do-it-Yourself.com has become my best friend.

This is by no means one of those women’s lib, who-needs-a-man, type posts. I just got a crash course in “you're on your own if you want things done” several years ago and frankly, it’s been liberating. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment to sit back and realize you’ve accomplished something you never thought you could. I highly recommend everyone (male and female) give it a try. Start small and work your way up. The key is to read the directions (hard for some men – and even me more often than I should admit), and take your time.

Now get out there and do something productive!!!!