Is it sexist to say to the fella who is managing your service job 'as I said to the girl behind the counter...' I wasn't sure...so after a little pause said 'other one' Colleague would have been easier lol
We are colleagues at work The colleague at the till The colleague at the customer service desk We reinforce colleague to customers too We also use customer rather than male/female Going forward......
I fought against sexism for years.....always been in the bike trade,always worked in bike shops and always been either parts or workshop manager,as I can fix most bikes and service,MOT them.It has been a total uphill battle for most men to accept this. It's the worst fucking feeling in the world when they cannot take your advice or don't believe what you tell them.When I was still living in South Wales I ended up not having any problems and got respected by most,but after moving to Derby,where I wasn't 'known' I had to start back at square one in the bike shop I worked in.Needless to say I lasted there six months after having a total gutsful of shitty customers. 'What would a woman like you know?' piercings and tattoos were accepted by my staff and colleagues,but apparently not by most of the customers.......fucking ridiculous,I left never looking back and finished in the bike trade once and for all. It's changed dramatically since I first worked in it,and not necessarily for the better.....must imagine it's even worse for the handful of talented women racers that are out there!! Oh....and the fact that you can ususally outride them too.....that never goes down well either!
I worked in the motor trade for 10 years Jenc and I only had one male who didn't like females in the trade The first boss I had couldn't wait to have a female in his team I have been respected through those years and accepted (I think I was a novelty) I went into the trade knowing it was a mans world not wanting to change it or have boobie calendars put away I wouldn't swop those years for anything
Is that the car trade though? Cos that is entirely different.I ended up having my own regular customers in South Wales,who would actually wait to be served by me rather than sometimes by my boss!! I have always known it's a mans world,but for some men they cannot handle the fact that a woman will know more about their bike than they do.I loved it,many years 20 odd in the bike trade,I guess I just wasn't in the mood to prove myself up here where I live and start at square one again....getting older= less patience LOL
It was the car trade I was one of only two women in the late 80's/90 there were no other women apart from accounts and office I have been goods inward/outward and serving back counter and working with bodyshop and driving fork lifts here is where I had the unfortunate experience of not being accepted by one male Made number plates I have been service reception and run a parts department I have delivered/sold parts and Body parts co ordinator Like you Jen I had customers who would only deal with myself What I didn't know I would find out I think after watching my dad from a young age to question asking in the garages I could fix myself many of the older cars Even helped with MOTs No qualifications though At school three of us girls had a sit in until we were accepted to do metalwork (girls did cookery needlework) I won metalwork prize award and passed my CSE grade 1
LOL....you're a bit like me then.I did metalwork and woodwork instead of cookery and knitting There were three bike shops in South Wales at the time and we all got poached from one to another,and whenever we left the bike shop in question,the manager would always say the they would never have me back,but they always did LOL
Lol I'm more of a girlie now I think my experience is the reason I accept differences in people easier than others I see people who are unable to talk to disabled people they don't know what to say Me I just talk to them or touch as touch speaks a thousand words
suzi stodart (wolf) is a local lass in racing and development for Mercedes. old man ownes the local bike shop. dont know how good a driver she is but she has nice bum.
Aww bless ya.I know what you mean,I can be a lot more forgiving now than I used to be,I just used to hate getting talked to as if I was a piece of shit,and the fact that their bike was faulty was MY fault :Banghead:.I would never dream of talking to somebody like the way I was talked to sometimes.
I love working with women; they have boobs afterall There may be some things that are more suited to a man or a womens physique or mentality but that doesnt change the fact that there's nothing that women cannot do as good as or better than men if they tried hard enough.
