I’m a 34 year old female carpenter. I have over 10 years experience. As a carpenter, most jobs are seasonal and you get laid off during the winter. Instead of struggling through the winter on EI, I’ve decided to try and find some interior carpentry work. As well as applying for job postings online, I also made a Kijiji add.
“34 year old carpenter with 10 years experience. Looking to get on with a finish carpentry crew or trim crew…” It went on from there. Several days later I received a reply from a company in Lower Sackville that specializes in Trim work. The reply to my ad was,”Hi…I am in need of a Finish Carpenter for trim work…call and we can chat 902-xxx-xxxx.” Right on! I proceed to call so we can chat.
The instant the guy realizes I’m female he tries to tell me that he doesn’t know why someone would have replied to my ad on his behalf because he doesn’t require any help. Also, he refers to me as “dear” at least 20 times during our brief conversation, which is completely insulting after you’ve just answered the phone like you’re talking to one of your boys, then immediately change to a degrading and condescending tone once you realize I’m female.
Fuck outta here with that shit! Regardless, I just take it as another one of the zillion times I’ve been treated like a delicate little fucking flower by some meat head, mouth breathing fuck boy in the construction industry. His loss, I’m an amazing carpenter.
So I continue my job search on Kijiji to look at the newly posted ads and come across one that says: “I have a position in my company for a Finish Carpenter. Looking for a reliable worker with 5+ years exp. in trimwork…” Sounds perfect! I click on the ad and SHOCKER! It’s from the same jack ass that just minutes ago told me he “wasn’t looking for anyone, dear.” I wish I could say your company name on here because females that will hire you might not if they knew you were the type of person that doesn’t at least give women in trades a chance to prove themselves before turning into stereotypical stereotype. Jerk. Sorry I’m not sorry, but go to hell. I’ve worked with guys who admit they turned down females applying for jobs before, but after working with me they feel stupid for potentially throwing away great employees. I’ve worked my way from the shittiest jobs with horrible companies all the way to great jobs with someone the best companies in Nova Scotia. I’ve worked on everything from sewer back-ups in a trailer, to several million dollar homes designed by the best designers in Nova Scotia. I’ve proven myself time and time again through my amazing craftsmanship and amazing work ethic. I can carpenter circles around you or anyone on your crew! It’s your loss asshole!
TO ALL OF HALIFAX: Hire women contractors. We’re more honest. We’re more reliable. We don’t try to gouge you for no damn reason. We’re less threatening than some douchy dude trudging through your property. We clean up after ourselves. etc. etc. etc. We’ve had to do better work just to be treated as equal on any job site since the beginning of time. That translates to us being better at our trades.
I wish I could leave you with a list of all the female carpenters and trades women I know. Because they’ve been working their asses off double as hard just to be treated the same as knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, less experience having idiots that are leading the industries.
I don’t speak on behalf of all females in trades. Just my personal experiences. I don’t hate men, either. Just the ones that act like the things they’re so proud of: DICKS! —I Can Carpenter Circles Around You
This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2017.
If you’re such an amazing carpenter why not do some freelance work and build your reputation and perhaps start your own business and compete with this no-good mouth-breathing fuck-boy etc etc who obviously has no interpersonal skills? Since you work harder than every man in the industry, this shouldn’t be a problem for you. You can even advertise your services as a female, and really play that shit up even more than you are already doing. Tons of people around here mindlessly eat that up, you could probably do quite well. You could call yourself “Lady CarpentHer” or something clever like that. Why haven’t you thought of this?
Great point up to the end, then you lost me with the needless male bashing. This new age of empowerment is confusing. I want to be a champion of the cause because stuff like this isn’t fair, and USUALLY (see what I did there instead of using an absolute) there is a good to great point being made, and then it all ends up as static noise because everyone, myself included, get caught up in the inflammatory language of the male bashing at the end!?!?
Like Jesus I/We want to help, but I also want to have some self respect! So while the first 80% makes me want to yell “HELL YES YOU GO WOMAN! EVERYONE DESERVES FAIR AND EQUAL PAY AND RESPECT AT THEIR JOB” I don’t want to follow you to the end of the point which results in me also yelling, “AND OH YEAH FUCK MALE KNUCKLE DRAGGING MOUTH BREATHING DOUCHEBAGS AMIRITE AMIRITE!?!?!?!”
ARGHHHH the problem is it’s not something relegated to the bitch section, or comments sections online, I’ve heard this spoken/said plenty of times out in the “real world” as well. And yet, just by me saying I wish to support these causes in earnest, but I do have an issue with being generalized as a man, I have no doubt I will now be generalized into some box and it will be said how I’m part of the problem and not the solution, and how I’m no better then the male douchebags your trying to rid from polite society.
Male bashing is so boring. I couldn’t read this
^^^^Ahhh Shadddappp, bitch section, expect it.
…and this is why you don’t get taken seriously. You didn’t get the shitty job putting shitty trim up in shitty, cheap apparments for someone you clearly don’t respect. Disaster averted!!
Do you know how many jobs i didn’t get? Too many to count. Do I care why? Nope, I moved on, and I’m sure I didn’t get the ones at HRM because I’m not something or another. Can we all just drag our crosses in silence?
You had me on your side, until the male bashing started. I am a male, have my own painting business. I do residential work, and guess what. I do clean up after myself. I do not rip off my customers. I do great work, and my work load reflects that.
You have a bad attitude and you will not have lasting employment with it!
Usually I’m shitting on women for being selfish and manipulative. I don’t get that from you OP. I can totally see where you’re coming from and why you could potentially hate men… I don’t work in a trade, but it’s been my experience when working for tradesmen at minimum wage in the past that they were the most arrogant, stupid, sexist douchebags on the planet. They like to act tough, while downing 10 coffees and smoking a pack of cigarettes per break. What are they doing after work? Why getting fucked up of course! Then they’ll continue to measure their penises by fighting with each other after snorting a line at the bar. I do everything I need to around the house but if I had to, I would ONLY hire women to fix my shit.