"You Need a Man for That"...

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Oy okay enough with the snickering there. Interesting question particularly for the gents. If you see a woman doing heavy lifting does it make you uncomfortable? Maybe it's our generation I don't know. At work today there was one guy who apologized all over the place. He was maybe in his 60's and just had knee surgery. He also needed twelve bags of mulch for his job. The lot guys were hiding and he asked me nice.

I got his mulch and loaded his truck...jeez for all the apologizing he could have tipped me, but anyways...customer two was on a motorcart and maybe late 70's and frail looking. He wanted lime. No problem and the bag is maybe thirty pounds. This poor fella, I started to pick up the bag and he got off his scooter. When he tried to pick it up it tipped and got stuck. I finally stepped in and said " No no don't be silly, here I've got it".

Some customers I'll share that either I've got big doggies and I'm stronger than I look or maybe that hubby has Parkinson's and I'm used to doing stuff. But really it's interesting how the older generations get so embarrassed about a lady doing heavy labor. I'm not complaining, my eyes were crossed after that mulch. But I can't tell you how often I hear " You need a man for that". Yes, yes I do, but I'm the only one here, so here we go.
 

fureverywhere said:
Oy okay enough with the snickering there. Interesting question particularly for the gents. If you see a woman doing heavy lifting does it make you uncomfortable? Maybe it's our generation I don't know. At work today there was one guy who apologized all over the place. He was maybe in his 60's and just had knee surgery. He also needed twelve bags of mulch for his job. The lot guys were hiding and he asked me nice.

I got his mulch and loaded his truck...jeez for all the apologizing he could have tipped me, but anyways...customer two was on a motorcart and maybe late 70's and frail looking. He wanted lime. No problem and the bag is maybe thirty pounds. This poor fella, I started to pick up the bag and he got off his scooter. When he tried to pick it up it tipped and got stuck. I finally stepped in and said " No no don't be silly, here I've got it".

Some customers I'll share that either I've got big doggies and I'm stronger than I look or maybe that hubby has Parkinson's and I'm used to doing stuff. But really it's interesting how the older generations get so embarrassed about a lady doing heavy labor. I'm not complaining, my eyes were crossed after that mulch. But I can't tell you how often I hear " You need a man for that". Yes, yes I do, but I'm the only one here, so here we go.
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You're a good gal, furry. You would have gotten much appreciation from me as well. I would never say "You need a man for that", but I would recognize to myself the effort involved, and appreciate being rescued.
 

One of my favorite ones was a guy who needed an industrial dolly from the overhead. Guess what? No loading guys, no guys bigger than me, oh joy. This guy is grousing about how I can't possibly get the full box down. He was right the box weighed more than me. But while he's on the ground complaining I got a ladder up to the pallet. Trusty box cutter and cut open the case, got out his dolly and handed it down to him. His mouth was hanging open. That made my day...
 
I went and purchased some bags of potting mix.

They were reasonably heavy and the trolley kept moving each time I lifted a bag out.

A young bloke stopped and said he would help me with that.

He put his foot against the trolley so that it wouldn't run away each time I lifted a bag out of the trolley!

Yep, I guess he helped.
 
I used to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, bend steel in my bare hands, and change the course of mighty rivers.

Now I need a female to help me zip up my zipper.

I'm not complaining. :eek:
 
fureverywhere said:
One of my favorite ones was a guy who needed an industrial dolly from the overhead. Guess what? No loading guys, no guys bigger than me, oh joy. This guy is grousing about how I can't possibly get the full box down. He was right the box weighed more than me. But while he's on the ground complaining I got a ladder up to the pallet. Trusty box cutter and cut open the case, got out his dolly and handed it down to him. His mouth was hanging open. That made my day...
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I used to be a youth leader at an outdoor organisation and I took the young teenage girls. I would say to them "girls can do anything but we need to use our heads before using our muscles. We can do everything but we may need to do some things differently".

You just illustrated my point.
 
I receive help from men a lot. They shovel snow with me, lift heavy grocery bags for me and sometimes they even bring me my drink at Starbucks when the barrista puts it on the counter. I just think it's chivalrous and good manners and thanks to all you kind gents who do these things for a lady. I appreciate you. :love_heart:
 
I don't lift anything heavy, my back injury won't allow me ...but no I can't remember the last time other than my o/h, when a man offered to do the lifting for me when it was clear that the help was needed.

I think the fact that I look young and fit albeit petite.. that everyone thinks I'm quite capable.
 
My husband is always willing...'but later' so early on I learned to do most things on my own and that included whenever I had to lift heavy stuff. But like Shalimar, I make use of our dolly whenever I can.
 
You know I had a revelation today. I've lost my job at that store...I had to not be late for the next six months and today...However if they terminate you...UNEMPLOYMENT. And the light bulb went off...using the one stop site and any resources for senior job seekers. I realized looking at my co-workers what that job did to them. Concrete floors, heavy lifting, sometimes 10 hours a week and sometimes 32 but it was all at their discretion. Really no advancement...there has to be a better way and I'm going to find it.
 
Fureverywhere, I worked in a blue collar job for over thirty years, that I enjoyed very much. I was on cement floors, heavy lifting, machine operation, forklift, etc., for 8-10 hour shifts, and a lot of overtime. So, I'm kinda like you, able to handle a lot of stuff on my own, and happy that I'm still able. I've helped men out in the past with heavy objects, and worked in a male dominated environment for a long time. Many treated me as their equal, we were all on the same pay scale and did equal work. Hubby will come an help if he sees me doing something strenuous, and I him. :cool: My father in law lived with us for years before he passed, half paralyzed from a major stroke. I managed to lift him in and out of bed, push his wheelchair down (and up) a step or two, etc. Was happy I was able without hiring out for help.
 
SifuPhil said:
I used to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, bend steel in my bare hands, and change the course of mighty rivers.

Now I need a female to help me zip up my zipper.

I'm not complaining. :eek:
Click to expand...

Heck, I've wished fruitlessly for one zipping both directions! :eek:

imp
 
grannyjo said:
I went and purchased some bags of potting mix.

They were reasonably heavy and the trolley kept moving each time I lifted a bag out.

A young bloke stopped and said he would help me with that.

He put his foot against the trolley so that it wouldn't run away each time I lifted a bag out of the trolley!

Yep, I guess he helped.
Click to expand...
Oh my, what a gentleman he was. :(
 
Two issues here...
1.) Common courtesy. I don't care whether it be lady, gentleman, young, old, black, white, or green... courtesy is to open doors for people and assist when you can see they need assistance and on and on. But, in today's society, forget it!!!
2.) Traditional respect. I was raised during the time when we respected ladies. You opened doors for them. You did the heavy lifting. That wasn't sexist or condescending. It was the respect we learned to afford the female gender.

Our culture has changed so much. If you see a lady stranded by the road, you don't dare stop to assist. There may well be someone with a firearm waiting for the first person to stop and rob them. So, you call the authorities and have them respond. We have seen many women join the engineering/construction field over the past few years. Personally, I've had more difficulty with lady engineers than any other category. Typically, a group can visit about alternative methods and... together... come up with a solution. More than once, if a lady engineer is involved, she takes any discussion as if you are attacking her design/proposal/solution. We had a lady engineer get our firm fired by a very valued client. The client knew what they needed. She took offense when the client stated he didn't need all that she was proposing. She became agitated and we became unemployed by that client. Thank goodness, a couple of older male engineers were able to get us reinstated and we have continued to do work for this client.

Sorry, got off on a tangent from simply loading of items into a trunk/truck. Again, if we somehow could overcome this "me" mantra and go back to simply respecting our fellow man we would all find assistance when needed.
 

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