from Brazen Careerist by
So today on Oprah, they interviewed a mother who got so busy one morning that she forgot that her daughter was in the backseat of her car. She went into her job, went about her day, only to find her daughter had died in the backseat after spending 8 hours strapped in her carseat in 100+ degree heat. This mother was brave enough to come on the show and tell her story so that others can learn. As this mother told her story, she reiterated over and over that she was just so busy trying to be everywhere for everyone that she wasn't ever really present and she feels that lead to this incident.
I cannot tell you how many times I've been running around with my To Do list in hand, thinking about 100 other things other than the thing I am doing. I some days cannot remember driving two and from work, or remember looking into the rear-view mirror and wondering did I just cut that person off or did I just turn in front of someone. Just the other day, I was thinking about an upcoming meeting and put the cereal box in the refrigerator and my keys in with the spoons.
I've been watching this lately in the workplace. My job is mainly women. I watch these women always take on more, always step up to help, always try to keep the peace, and constantly multi-tasking. I'm not saying that the men in my job don't do the same, but I don't see the men I work with carry the same level of stress and self-expectation as us women do and I have to ask myself, is it a gender difference between men and women - this level of ownership and need to "take care of everything" or is it that in the workplace that is majority women, do we allow men to own things as much as we do?
I'll be honest, there are days that I find myself jealous and resentful of some of the men I with whom I work. It seems to me that they keep "normal" business hours, that they are allowed to give their opinion on a project vs. making it right if something is wrong. So, how do I model my work life so that the expectations that are put out there for myself as a woman are equal to that of a man? Do any other women feel the same?
0 thoughts: Perfection: Self Imposed or Culturally Inflicted?
Post a Comment