I'm all for equal-opportunity employment, and all that stuff, but the only women I've encountered here in t&e have been horrible. I mean like, nails on a chalkboard horrible. Not because they were women, but because the specific people I'm talking about were/are really stupid.
I had to train a female CQ one night as a utility man on an auto-ramp, spotting and pulling racks. We were working 6pm to 6am on a cold, December night. I was assisting the various remote jobs on the ramp, and occasionally going down into the bowl to assist the road crews double the cars ready to depart the yard. At first she seemed very nice, but as soon as we got out there, she complained about how cold it was, and how she hated working nights. Not like how we usually complain, but just going on and ON and ON and on about how the railroad ruined her life, and how she had to break up with her b/f because the schedule was causing tension.
I know that rr'ers complain, but she just kept going on and on, and didn't seem very interested in learning the tracks in the yard, or being a team player. As punishment, I made her play switchman, as the remote operator and myself worked the ramp. The next time we came out to the lead for a cut of cars, she was REALLY cold! She declared she'd had enough, and spent the rest of the night riding back in forth in the remote engine, in the heat, not learning anything. About a month later, I saw on the layoff inquiry that she was off sick. She was still out sick 2 weeks later, and not long after that, I was told she had quit the rr. Basically called in sick, and never showed up again. It was probably the better move for her, if she was SO miserable out here.
I suggested qualifying on the road if she didn't like the yard, or maybe sticking it out a year then learning how to be a YM, or some other craft. She was a young girl (still older than me age wise, but 2 years younger in seniority), and in this economy, I didn't want to see anybody giving up a good paycheck and benefits just because they didn't like working outside, in the cold, during nighttime. But she had enough, and went back to wherever she came from, and from the other stories I heard about her short 2 months on the railroad, it was better for everybody.
The other person I have to deal with is older than me in age, AND seniority. She's so bad, engineers will regularly mark off when they're lined up to work with her. Word is she's laying in the weeds, waiting to sue the company for sexual harassment the second anybody says ANYTHING that could be construed as such. I think she acts tough to prove herself around her male peers, which is sad; I don't think anybody of any gender or race should have to "prove" themselves anymore than anybody else. 'Round here, everybody should be held to the same standards. Do the right thing, work safely, and don't go around backstabbing one another.
I kid you not, one day I got into the yardvan, in which she was also hoping a ride in. I said "Hey, how's it going?" to her, and this is NO lie, she turns around and says "I am almost 50 years old, I don't need any of your s#it!". Ohhhhhhhhhhhhkay, f##k you too! I can't wait until she's an engineer......
