In my last post, I started to tell you about how I got started at Social Solutions. I was the only woman in an office of ten men who were very used to working without a woman around. Their efforts to be more “refined” around me were really kind of sweet.
They would apologize if they cursed in front of me, despite my constant insistence that the language I heard from some of the kids I worked with at my previous job would probably make them blush. I also had a hunch that the dress code may have been a bit more relaxed prior to my arrival, especially since they were without air conditioning until the previous year. (Baltimore summers are no joke when you’re on the third floor of an old factory building.) I don’t think it was exactly “clothing optional,” but I will say that they used to have a weight machine in the office and may have gone from working to working out without requiring a change of clothes. The last piece of evidence I will submit on this topic is: on my first day, I signed the company policy for “appropriate internet usage” and happened to notice that the rest of the team had signed the same policy a mere week before me.
I think it’s safe to say that my hiring marked a significant step in the civilization of the Social Solutions team.
Being part of a small company can give you a very special glimpse inside the lives of your co-workers, even when your co-workers are all men who are not fans of small talk. At my previous job I probably knew way too much about my co-workers, so it was strange to have to pull teeth to learn more about my new colleagues. Read the rest of this entry »
