Dirty Work

The company I work for has a strict anti-harassment policy and issues are dealt with swiftly and unambiguously, much to their credit. And people take it very seriously. This is a nice protection as a woman in the minority there, but it makes some interactions interesting. The fellow that trains me much of the time- let's call him 'Brad'- told me that once someone overheard an exchange between two workers in which one seemed to be speaking inappropriately to the other, and reported it as harassment on behalf of the percieved victim. The offender in this case was diciplined accordingly. This has worried Brad a bit when it comes to training me.

The thing about Brad is that I really like him. Brad is a big guy with a big personality to match. He's been friendly and encouraging since I arrived. A few weeks after I started there I discovered that my boyfriend used to work for him. He tells me that Brad's "rough around the edges" but over all a good guy who's not afraid to stick up for himself or others. To call him "rough around the edges" is a cute way to put it.

So, to set the scene, aluminium TIG runs on alternating current (AC) for it, and AC is loud. Brad and I are in a welding booth, helmets down, arc struck and he is yelling at me over the AC buzz, "Wait til it's nice and wet. There ya go, now shove the rod in. Nice and easy. Okay now hammer it!". Writing it out makes it sound like I'm describing a SNL skit, but I promise you that all this is legitimate welding lingo.   We know this, but it makes him nervous.

He talked to our supervisor about it and again to me when he came back from break. As much as I like Brad, I'm not sure what he thinks I think of him. I'm fairly quiet in new situations. I like to watch people for a while and it takes time before I warm up and get chatty. This means I come off as shy (although I don't feel like that's an accurate word for it) and it also means that people sometimes are overly careful of making me comfortable or including me since they have a hard time reading if I'm comfortable or having a good time. I don't do this on purpose, but I think it had Brad wondering if he was perhaps making me uncomfortable without realizing it or meaning to.