Thursday

Work was unusual. Three of us drove to another town 45 minutes away, and, upon arrival, found out that the city water is undrinkable because of E-coli and that there is a boil-water advisory. Someone said the sewer part of the water got mixed in with the water supply somehow. I thought it all got mixed in together anyway and was all bleached and sanitized and chemicalized and filtered all together. Schools were closed, some restaurants were still open, and our workshop we were going to attend was still going on. When the three of us arrived at the workshop we were attending, one of the instructors was passing out registration forms to the three of us. We all have the same job title. She asked me if I was the assistant to one of the men. She didn't ask anyone else that question. Was it a gender stereotype? Am I automatically the suspect subservient subject because I am a female person? Maybe. Was it that I look too young? I don't know. What if I looked 30 years older than I do? Would I have gotten that same question? What if I were a man? Would I have gotten that same question? Did I do something to project the notion that I was an assistant? Someone told me recently that I need to project more self confidence. Would that have made a difference? Does it really matter?