In the public sector, all I have noticed is the common everday disregard to what knowledge and experience I have in dealing with things not generally associated with women, but strangely enough, at work, where I have gained near total acceptance with who and what I am, I am slowly noticing a tendancy in the way I am treated in the workforce.
At the beginning, when I still acted and reacted more male like, I was actually treated quite well in regard to the assignments I got and the type of work I handled. When I was assigned to my present position it was a 6 hour a day job which no one else really wanted as I was no longer a route driver, I was fixed to the clinic I was assigned to and just hand delivered records and speciments to the various med units when they were delivered to me by the drivers, the job didn't have any prestege etc...
Later, my position was increased to 8 hours a day, a full 40 hour shirt, but they did so by assigning me to what I call a "garbage run", I have to spend two hours a day running around the various clinics in Roseville picking up dirty laundry and recyclable cardboard. It's kind of dirty work and of course no one else would do it, so it was just added to the responsibilities of my position. I used to get asked about my feelings or desire to do anything different from ordinary, but now I notice I don't get asked.
Although Kaiser is highly non discriminatory, and I have found it an excellent place to work and transition in, I do notice a tenancy to treat men and women differently in all departments. With EVS, Environmental services, the clean up prople, I notice all the vacume and rug cleaning, ie, cleaner jobs requiring certain simple skills, the men do it. If it has to do with cleaning sinks and toilets or any kind of gooky thing, the women do it. It is even women who empty the bins of cardboard I bring back to the main hospital. As I said, it is a dirty job, even if it isn't heavy, so guess who has to get thier hands dirty.
And if someone pukes in the middle of of the lab or in line at the pharmacy, don't even waste the time to figure who gets the job? Certaintly not the male who was standing there when it happened.
For my own part, it's not a serious thing in my case. I get more work I get more hours I get more money, but it does bother me that in the beginning, It would have been discussed. What they do these days is talk with the other people I would be coordinating with do it or not and depending on how it serves thier individual efforts involved either way, even down to the partner I work with normally and how it affects her share of the workload while I am gone for two hours or more and between them they determine how I will operate and what my schedual is like and how it will be rescheduled..... of course my input isn't really necessary it seems..... All I gotta do is make what they come up with work, not a moments distraction or my work at Riverside piles up for when I get back.
What happens when it piles up? I end up having to work right through breaks and lunch in order to get it all done by the end of shift. About a half hour before quitting time I have to collect containers of specimens, some room temp, some refriderate and some frozen and put them in the Van which I use during workdays because of the running back and forth I do in my job. My own keys, gas card etc. I pick it up every morning and park it back at the main hospital every day.
I hate this, as my own schedule is entirrely dependant on other people on time and I must have all present work done before running the route, and I have to be back before 3pm as there is a load waiting for me to deliver and another load on the way, so it's cram a sandwich or something and start sorting and delivering to catch up. the put a pedimeter on me last year and it came up over a period of a month that I walked 10 miles a day on the job and in doing my job I constantly lifting, pushing, pulling, tossing, etc... etc... makes for a day, lemme tell ya. But It's work, I'm grateful for my job, and it has supported me all through this, so I get less and less inclined to grip about stuff that I can handle.
Terri
