Tag: Women in the Office

365 Days of Posts, Office Stories

The Internet is a Funny Place

by The Office Black GirlLeave a Comment on The Internet is a Funny Place
The Internet is a Funny Place

The internet is a funny place. It gives people an exaggerated feeling of their reality-based feelings.

People fear putting themselves out there because they are afraid that the world is watching them and ready to laugh. But the reality is you are lucky if you pop up on a few people’s feeds, and that includes people who actually care about you.

The Internet also seems to give people a ridiculous amount of confidence. Whether it is the confidence to tear people down online because you hide behind a faceless image. Or the comments of strangers blow your head up so big that you somehow think your internet popularity automatically translates to real-life currency by default.

I find myself sitting somewhere in the middle of the delusion. Or maybe it is just a different lane of delusion altogether.

As I bring up this blog to share my thoughts, I wonder if people are already tired of me or who really cares about my office experience. Sometimes it shifts to what if I did become popular online. Would I even be able to maintain content that people would give a shit about?

When I started typing today’s post, I was going to talk about another racially awkward moment with my boss (I have a few new ones). But with the joys of ADHD, I shifted to another track of thinking. But there was a process to getting here.

Today (I actually wrote this yesterday), I took pictures of the women in my office for International Women’s Day. Of course, I knew no one would be happy, and one even asked me if someone would be taking my picture.

I tried to tell the women I would not post anything unflattering of them online, but as I scanned through the pictures, I did start to think about how cruel the internet is. I didn’t edit any of the pictures (because that isn’t even in my skillset), but I did crop them to reduce any anxiety the pictures may trigger.

Usually, I try to stay behind the camera when it comes to my job….for many reasons. But even as I inserted a work photo of myself, I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of someone commenting something nasty on the picture.

So far, the comments have only been kind to the men posted on our social media, but for some reason, I feel like someone won’t be able to help themselves. I hope I am wrong, and I hope these thoughts are just a waste of energy. Because the internet is full of overconfident faceless assholes, and I don’t want to be another faceless asshole who exposed my coworkers to that for social media engagement.

On that note…Happy International Women’s Day.

365 Days of Posts, Office Stories

Working & Bleeding

Featuredby The Office Black GirlLeave a Comment on Working & Bleeding
Working & Bleeding

Years ago, I was one of the “lucky” women with “easy” periods. With the wonderful help of birth control, I would have a period for about a day and didn’t have any crazy side effects. Well, I did get abnormally horny. That would usually be a T.M.I. portion of the story, but we are talking about periods.

But in recent years, I swear Karma is getting her lick back or something because dealing with my period is now a whole ordeal.

I have now started getting migraines that make me question my existence, followed by my whole body deciding to jump on the dumpster fire train. But what adds to the misery is having to go to work while my body betrays me. I have been looking at the same billboard design for the last hour, hoping no one notices that I have barely tapped on my keyboard.

If I didn’t know better, I would think I was sick.

Or maybe I am sick. While my bad mood may be the only contagious symptom, the rest should warrant a sick day without penalty. To be fair, I could probably ask my director to go home without any issue. But this is a reoccurring problem; unfortunately, our society is not built to give a shit about accommodating the complications of women’s menstrual cycles and work demands.

It is as if the natural occurrences of being a woman become obstacles to being a well-balanced, career woman. In 2023, we should stop treating men’s lives as the standard for workplace expectations. Because how can you win at work when only half the workforce can experience the burden of mother nature, and many of them don’t bother to understand?